Be My Valentine
by SplendentGoddess
Summary: Sequel to Christmas Cab! Just a shameless bit of WAFFy and (edited for this site) smutty goodness. Come take one more look at our favorite couple as their relationship advances, giving them the happy ending everyone was hoping for.
Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

* * *

Hello again!

As the summary states, this one-shot is a sequel to my latest Christmas fic, Christmas Cab. This universe was just so much fun that I decided it warranted a sequel. It was originally supposed to be posted by Valentine's Day, but then pesky "real life" events kept preventing me from being able to get it finished and posted on time. I didn't even get it posted in time for White Day! Oh well, I guess better late than never, right? Especially when you weren't even expecting it in the first place!

Please note that while there is a sex scene in this sequel, it has been toned down significantly on this site to comply with FF's rating rules. The full version, if you're interested, is available on Mediaminer. This one-shot will not be posted on AFF as I never posted Christmas Cab on AFF.

Now, then, on with the show! Happy belated Valentine's Day/White Day!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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~ Be My Valentine ~

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Pulling into the guest parking area of Taisho Enterprises, Kagome parked her taxi, which was currently marked as being off-duty, and headed around towards the front of the building. She felt the buzz of multiple demonic auras from all around her, but none of an ookami-youkai, which she always looked for, just in case. While Kouga and his cronies were in jail, one could never be too careful. Wolves traveled in packs, after all. Fortunately, though, nobody else had decided to 'seek revenge' against Inuyasha. Kagome had even since met Ayame, since her father was still doing business with Mr. Taisho, and she was a lovely woman.

Entering the skyscraper, Kagome nodded politely to the security guard before making her way to the elevator, pushing the button for the top floor. A few people entered and exited the elevator along the various floors during her ascent, all of them youkai, but everyone either greeted her with a friendly nod or completely ignored her, the latter mostly because they were stuck in their own little worlds worrying about this or that rather than going out of their way to seem rude. Nobody was downright _rude_ to her at Taisho Enterprises; they never had been, and she imagined they never would be.

As the doors opened on the top floor Kagome and one other person exited, that gentleman giving her a brief nod before disappearing around the corner. Having nodded back, Kagome then made her way over to the secretary's desk that doubled as a blockade of sorts between her and the massive double doors that led to the _main_ office. If she didn't already know the place so intimately she might have felt intimidated.

"Hey Yura," she greeted, earning the attention of the distracted hair youkai whose senses of smell and hearing weren't any better than a human's.

"Ah! Kagome!" Yura greeted happily when she looked up from her sudoku puzzle, smiling at the miko dressed in black slacks and a pink v-neck sweater. "I didn't feel you come in."

To be considerate, Kagome tried to keep a tight rein on her miko aura while in Taisho Enterprises, not wanting to come off as if she were trying to intimidate anybody. It was something she had to consciously do, just like a youkai could consciously suppress the feel of their youki, but it was not necessarily difficult. As a result, only the strongest of daiyoukai could sense her suppressed reiki, and know she was suppressing it, and only if they went out of their way to look for it. To a lower youkai who scanned her aura, they'd either mistakenly think she was a very weak miko or possibly even a 'normal' human, if they themselves were too weak to sense what she'd tucked hidden away.

Of course, that was only if the youkai didn't know her, but just about every youkai who worked in the Taisho building knew who Kagome was at that point.

"Sorry we had to take your man away from you, today of all days," Yura stated conversationally then, since it was Sunday and, usually, Inuyasha didn't work weekends.

"That's okay," Kagome waved off. "Gave me time to make a mess of my kitchen this morning."

"Ooohh, is that why you're here early?" Yura asked, having glanced at the clock and noted that it was only just coming up on 11:30am. Whenever Kagome met Inuyasha for lunch she was always punctual at noon.

"Maybe..." the miko hinted teasingly. "Let's just say, I was hoping that maybe Inuyasha could escape a little early for an _extended_ lunch break."

Seeing the playful sparkle in the miko's eyes, Yura snickered.

"Oh, you wicked girl you. A vixen after my own heart."

That earned a laugh from the miko, while Yura pushed a button on the office phone on her desk, Inuyasha's voice crackling to life on the speaker moments later.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"You're twelve o'clock is here to see you, sir," Yura answered, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing when Kagome giggled behind her hand.

"Twelve o'clock? Yura, what the hell are you talking about? I don't make appointments for noon!"

"Oh, well in that case I'll just go home then," Kagome said, leaning over Yura's desk to talk into the speaker phone. Her tone was falsely upset; she was clearly teasing him.

A mild curse could be heard and then the line went dead seconds before the big double doors swung open.

"You're early," Inuyasha said, although his giant grin belied his supposed aggravation over her unexpected arrival.

"Nice to see you too," Kagome deadpanned, although the sparkle never left her eyes.

Gazing back and forth between the hanyou and miko, Yura couldn't help the hopeless romantic sigh that escaped her lips, earning a blush from the miko and eye roll from the hanyou before he ushered Kagome back into the office he shared with his half-brother.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome greeted with a cordial nod.

The daiyoukai glanced up from his desk on the far right side of the room before immediately getting back to whatever was on his computer screen.

"Hn."

Kagome had come to learn that that was his version of hello while he was working. It was the lack of a nasty glare shot her way that let her know her presence was not unwanted. In her few brief encounters with the daiyoukai since the first time she'd met him, Kagome could understand where Inuyasha had gotten his impressions of Sesshoumaru from, but having also met the bubbly woman that was his wife, Rin, the miko highly suspected that there was a softer side to the full-blooded inu he just refused to let show at the office.

Walking with Inuyasha back to his desk on the left side of the room, Kagome unabashedly leaned against his shoulders from behind in order to look at his computer screen as he got back to the data report he was almost finished compiling.

"I'm almost done," he told her quietly, hoping to let his brother concentrate on his own reports. "Was there any particular reason you're a half hour early?"

"I was hoping you could sneak away sooner so that I could have you all to myself for that much longer," she murmured. "It _is_ Valentine's Day, after all, and _Sunday_ , and yet I let you come in today out of the kindness of my heart because I know you've got that important meeting later."

Her tone of voice was amused; she was not the kind of girl to truly be angered over her boyfriend's career responsibilities.

"I figured the _least_ you could do was leave a half hour early for lunch."

He smirked at her over his shoulder.

"Does that mean we're not going to our usual noodle shop?"

"Of course not, silly. I've made you homemade Honmei chocolates. They're waiting back at my apartment."

Just the thought of a homemade _anything_ by Kagome instantly had Inuyasha's mouth watering. He didn't care that she hadn't bought him expensive store bought chocolates. He knew she was on a budget, and besides, she was such a good cook, these chocolates were bound to taste _much_ better.

"So _that's_ why you asked me last week if I could have chocolate," he stated in belated realization. She'd slipped it in so casually he hadn't even realized at the time that Valentine's Day was right around the corner.

"MmHmm," she murmured in the affirmative.

Kagome honestly hadn't been sure if he could have chocolate or not, what with him being half canine and all, and so she'd wanted to double-check, having figured he could probably have chocolate, at least in small quantities, but not being willing to risk poisoning him on a mere assumption if he were somehow actually allergic to it. Fortunately, that was not the case. His human half was most definitely _not_ allergic to chocolate, and he was actually quite fond of the stuff. Even fullblooded inu-youkai could eat chocolate, he'd told Kagome last week. He imagined that enough of it probably _could_ be poisonous, but the amount of chocolate it'd probably take would be poisonous to humans, too.

Filling in the last graph on his presentation and hitting 'save', Inuyasha put his computer into sleep mode and backed away from his desk. Deciding to leave his dark gray suit jacket where it was, draped across the back of his chair, his look was both casual and a match for Kagome's, with dark gray slacks and a light blue turtleneck sweater. He was _not_ looking forward to spring temperatures and the return of wearing dress shirts with neckties. Ties always tickled at something in his subconscious, like it was a collar and leash or something. Although, glancing at the lovely gal beside him, he knew he'd let Kagome lead him around like her loyal little puppy any time and place she wanted. She already did.

On that note, he gently grasped Kagome's hand in that moment as he made to leave the office, offhandedly telling Sesshoumaru that he'd be back in a couple of hours or so.

"Do not return reeking of improprieties," the daiyoukai spoke up then, his tone bored, his eyes never leaving the computer screen. "You may take however much extra time is required to properly cleanse yourself before your return."

Inuyasha's face burned crimson at his brother's words, but one glance in Kagome's direction didn't help the poor hanyou when he noticed his girlfriend trying hard not to laugh. Shooting her a mock glare, Kagome could only bite her lip even harder to keep from busting up as she and Inuyasha exited the office without a single word more spoken to the mentally chuckling daiyoukai.

"Back later," Inuyasha barely managed to grumble to Yura before ushering Kagome into the elevator.

"You know he's only teasing you," Kagome said once they were alone.

"Keh, bastard's got a point, though. We've got that meeting at three o'clock. There's been other times I know I've come back to the office smelling like, uh...well, _you_ know."

"Ah," Kagome voiced in acknowledgment, thinking about the times he'd bluntly told her she wasn't the only one with damp underwear. Leaning in seductively, she murmured teasingly, "So I _shouldn't_ make you all hot and bothered, then?"

"Too late," he replied with a sigh. "Just being around you, woman..."

Kagome only giggled.

While they still hadn't gone 'all the way' as it were, they were certainly headed in the right direction. Their make-out sessions were no longer limited to activities above the neck. To his credit, though, Inuyasha never tried to push Kagome into anything she didn't feel ready for yet.

While she truly appreciated his consideration, she was actually about ready to tell him his concerns were no longer warranted. Yes, she was still a virgin, but she wasn't intentionally saving herself for marriage or anything like that. The right guy had just never come along before now. And while she _had_ wanted to wait and make sure he was the right guy, first, because her virtue was important enough to her that she hadn't wanted to just give it away to just anyone, she now knew that her feelings for Inuyasha were the genuine article, and she was certain he felt the same way about her. Even should something hypothetically happen that made their relationship fizzle out in the long run, they both honestly loved each other in that moment, and that was good enough for her. She would never regret making Inuyasha her first.

Not that she honestly thought they might not somehow work out in the grand scheme of things. So far, every day that went by only had her loving the hanyou more and more. Today, she would tell him so, as he enjoyed the chocolates she had made for him for Valentine's Day.

With the elevator finally depositing them on the ground floor, they said a quick hi and bye to the security guard as they made their way outside. Emerging onto the sidewalk, they did not head around the building to the public parking area. Instead, Inuyasha immediately crouched down in front of Kagome, and she climbed up onto his back without hesitation. She had been caught off guard the first time he'd offered to give her a lift, literally, but now, hanyou-back-riding was her favorite means of transportation. As soon as he could tell she was secure and ready, he took off, launching the two of them up onto the much shorter building next door before then gradually making his way higher, practically flying across the cityscape towards Goshinboku District.

Arriving at Kagome's apartment building less than ten minutes later, they dropped down from the sky before he then crouched down and allowed her to dismount, her hair a little disheveled but the rest of her none the worse for wear.

The first time he'd offered for the two of them to travel that way, he had been so adorably hesitant and unsure of himself that Kagome had agreed despite her own initial trepidation at the thought. Not that she'd deemed it inappropriate in any way, nor had she even for the briefest fraction of a second actually feared for her safety, having absolutely zero doubt in her boyfriend's ability to keep her safe, but she was afraid of heights nonetheless and had been afraid the experience would make her sick to her stomach, if nothing else. Seeing his hesitant hopefulness as he'd braved suggesting it, however, Kagome hadn't had the heart to tell him no. When he'd sensed her initial reaction, which of course he had no matter how much she'd tried to hide it from him, she'd immediately assured him that she wasn't afraid of _him_ or of the idea of traveling on his back like that. It was a simple fear of heights and nothing more; she trusted him completely.

Of course, he had immediately tried to say never mind, believing her, but simply going back to the whole not wanting to force her to do anything she didn't feel comfortable doing mentality. Flattered, and nervous but feeling brave at the same time, she'd insisted, telling him that despite her fear, she wanted to, and he'd hesitantly complied. She'd lost her fear about three seconds in and had absolutely loved that method of transportation ever since.

Opening the front door to her apartment and leaving it open for Inuyasha to enter behind her as she stepped into what passed for the genkan, Kagome sat down on her entryway chair and removed her black boots before heading into the living/dining room while Inuyasha came in and closed the door behind himself, stepping out of his own shoes before joining his girlfriend in the front half of the main living area, by the couch and television.

"You sit here, I'll be right back," Kagome said mischievously, gesturing for Inuyasha to have a seat on the couch while she made her way past the dining area and into the kitchen.

"Your tone of voice makes it sound like I should have a blindfold on or something," he answered with a laugh as he watched her go before having a seat.

"Hmm...now _that's_ a good idea!" came Kagome's voice from the kitchen, which just earned another chuckle from the hanyou.

She returned quickly enough, holding a lacquered heart shaped box filled with various, bite sized chocolates. The box she had purchased, obviously, but it had been empty, designed to be filled with homemade chocolates instead. She'd wanted nothing more than to make them from scratch. While she had no desire to be a professional chef in a restaurant, cooking was fun, and the fact that her boyfriend loved her cooking made it even better. He often encouraged her to experiment, and this morning's undertaking in the kitchen had definitely qualified. Each chocolate candy was different, some lighter milk chocolate, others dark, some covered in a drizzle of white or pink icing, others plain, either round, square, or heart shaped themselves. Some were solid chocolate, but most had a filling of some kind. There were a dozen pieces in all; the presentation looked very professional.

"And you _made_ all these?" he blurted, not in disbelief, but in amazement.

"There's a kitchen full of evidence if you want proof," she replied as she took a seat on the couch beside him, not offended by his question. In fact, she sounded proud of herself for her accomplishment, and rightfully so.

"Damn, woman..." he said slowly, looking first down at the assortment of chocolates his girlfriend was holding in her lap and then back up into her stormy blue-gray eyes. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

"You were yourself," she answered softly, and his heart melted at the tone of devotion in her voice.

"I love you," he stated then, as he delicately picked up the first morsel of chocolate between the claws of his right thumb and index finger, popping it into his mouth. "You know that, right?"

That second part was a bit muffled due to the candy in his mouth, but Kagome understood him, her eyes tearing up slightly even as she smiled while his eyes closed in bliss as he savored the flavors blending together in his mouth. That one had had a caramel filling.

"Yeah...I know," she answered slowly, wiping away one lone tear. She wasn't upset that she hadn't gotten to say it first. "I love you, too."

Inuyasha's eyes opened wide as he finished the chocolate, belatedly realizing it was the first time either of them had confessed such an emotional thing out loud. Of course, he'd known he was in love with her since their fourth date, and he'd been positive she felt the same way, but neither of them had actually admitted it out loud yet, was all. After all, they'd only been together for about a month and a half. Still, in that moment, looking into Kagome's eyes, he'd never been more sure of anything in his entire life.

Picking up another chocolate from the box she had sitting on her lap, he then removed the box from her legs and sat it on the coffee table. He then held the small chocolate up to her lips, and reading the silent request in his eyes, she complied and opened her mouth. He popped the chocolate in, and then moving his hand to the side of her face, he covered her mouth with his own.

The kiss was slow and tender, languid and delicious, Kagome's expertly made chocolate melting in her mouth so that his tongue could lazily sample the subtle combination of flavors that were chocolate and Kagome, his nose having told him that that particular chocolate was solid instead of containing a filling. After the morsel had been fully enjoyed by both of them he still continued to kiss her, the action gradually picking up a little more heat in the otherwise chilly apartment.

The chill in the air became the least of either of their concerns as Kagome raised her right hand up to grab a fist full of hair at the back of Inuyasha's head, his left hand moving to the back of her head to match while his right remained cupping her left cheek, her left hand climbing higher to delicately reach for his right ear. She'd been nervous about touching them at first, too afraid to ask for fear of him misunderstanding, but she'd decided once in the heat of the moment to just go for it. Inuyasha had flinched in surprise, and she'd immediately tried to retract her hand, but his hand grasping her own, holding it to his ear, had told her what he couldn't articulate with words. She'd taken advantage of any chance she had to touch them ever since.

In that moment, as her fingers made contact, closing tenderly over the sensitive, fuzzy flap of flesh to rub in soft, soothing circles, Inuyasha responded to her touch by tightening his grip on her hair even more, while his right moved down from cupping her cheek to cupping her breast. Over her sweater, of course, at least at first.

Removing her right hand from the back of his head, Kagome reached over and casually lifted his right hand off her left breast, but before he could even process the fact that she seemed to be stopping him, which would've been disappointing had he had time to think about it considering he'd been permitted to fondle her breasts over her clothing before, she was then guiding his hand up _under_ her sweater to cup her bra-clad globe, the top half of which was not even covered by fabric at all, his fingertips grazing bare flesh.

He started in surprise, but didn't pause to question, thoroughly enjoying his new prize. Moaning into the kiss, Inuyasha's mouth gradually moved away from Kagome's own, shifting down to the right side of her throat, and moaning as well, she tilted her head to the left to accommodate. Her left hand fell away from his right ear, which marginally bummed him out because her delicate touches had been sending all sorts of delicious tingles throughout his body, but in that moment he had more important things to concentrate on, like bravely snaking his fingertips down underneath the fabric of his girlfriend's bra cup.

Smelling it as her arousal spiked, Inuyasha inhaled deeply, and knowing just what he was smelling only made Kagome feel even more turned on, knowing what the scent of her arousal did to him in return. She didn't wait long before her right hand, which had still been fisting his hair and had practically been holding his head against her throat as he worked on giving her a massive hickey, dropped down to the bulge in his pants.

He growled, then, the sound causing tingles to shoot through her entire body. Tightening his hold on her, Inuyasha practically crushed Kagome to him as he somehow resisted the urge to rock his hips when she began stroking him through his dark gray dress slacks. His left hand vacated the back of her head to dive up underneath the back of her sweater to splay against her bare upper back, above her bra strap. He wasn't quite brave enough yet to attempt unfastening the undergarment, but he didn't really need to since he'd worked her left breast out of its cup by that point, the bra fabric shoved downward, her entire fleshly globe being molded and manipulated by his eagerly exploring right hand.

Suddenly, Kagome's right hand moved up to fiddle with his belt, and that was the signal that regretfully pulled the hanyou back into reality.

"Kagome..." he panted, pulling his lips away from her neck in order to meet her eyes, his hands dropping away from her breast and back.

"I want you, Inuyasha. I love you. I'm ready," she stated, and he chuckled humorlessly as his head fell down to rest his forehead against her right shoulder.

"And I would love to make love to you right here and now on this sofa, but when we do, I want to be able to take my time. You deserve more than a quickie for your first time."

"But you don't have to go back to work for like an hour and a half still," she pointed out.

Lifting his forehead from her shoulder and smirking at her before kissing her gently, he pulled back from the kiss and reached up with his right hand to brush her bangs back.

"That's not enough time, _believe_ me."

Kagome felt her face flush at the promise held in his burning gaze.

"Well..." she started, sitting up straighter and fiddling underneath her sweater to fix her bra. "I'm not doing anything tonight, if, ya know, you wanted to swing back by this evening after work, or whatever."

He raised an eyebrow at her thinly veiled request.

"Wouldn't tonight be a good night for fares?" he asked her, and it was a reasonable inquiry on his part.

Tonight probably _would_ be a good night for her to be out collecting fares. He knew that while she wasn't presently struggling to the point of fearing she couldn't cover her monthly bills and rent, neither was she sitting pretty with a good amount of savings. Her expenses could catch up with her quickly enough, a bad month easily tipping the balance.

Instead of answering him directly, Kagome crossed her arms in front of herself, frowning facetiously as she pretended to get upset while deliberately and playfully accentuating her breasts.

"Are you trying to avoid me?" she asked.

In response, he shamelessly reached down and grabbed himself through his dress slacks.

"Does this _look_ like I want to avoid you?" he countered, smirking when she blushed again as she glanced down to look before shyly glancing away. "I want you," he elaborated. "I'm just trying not to be a selfish bastard about it. If you need to work tonight, I can wait."

"What if I don't want to wait anymore?" she asked him then, earning a raise of his eyebrows at her boldness. "Yeah, I probably should work tonight, but I'd _rather_ be with _you_."

"If...if you're sure..." he answered slowly.

She replied by leaning forward to kiss him again, uncrossing her arms to place both of her hands on his clothed upper chest, just below his shoulders, as she climbed up almost on top of him, forcing him to lean backwards towards the arm of the couch as she crawled up higher, dominating him.

"Wench..." he warned between kisses, hands on her shoulders, not actively pushing her away but trying to hold her back all the same. "You don't know what this domination shit does to my instincts. I wanna flip you over and take control."

"All the more reason I want to be on top," she teased, as she crawled fully into his lap, both of her hands going up to his ears. "I wanna make you lose control," she admitted before kissing him again, rubbing both ears at the same time.

He gasped into the kiss before growling, his hips rocking up into her as he felt her settle in his lap. His youki began rising in challenge, then, but she responded by challenging him right back with a spike in her reiki. The next thing Kagome knew, she was on her back, on the other end of the long sofa, the other armrest just above her head, with a red-eyed inu-hanyou snarling down at her. She'd never seen a sexier sight.

"Maybe later, you can be on top," he told her in a strained, gravelly voice, as his eyes slowly drained back to yellow. "On my human nights you can do whatever the hell you want to me, tie me up for all I care," he added then in promise, Kagome's eyes lighting up in wicked delight at the thought. "But for tonight, for our first time, I'm in charge."

"Yes, sir."

oooooooooooooooooooo

The afternoon and early evening seemed to drag on for Kagome as she kept on checking the time, feeling anxious, but also giddy, like an excited child, except with a _very_ grownup agenda.

After Inuyasha's declaration that _he_ would be in charge that night, she'd known not to challenge him again. She hadn't actually wanted to dominate him, after all. Like she'd openly admitted, she'd wanted to make him lose control, which he very nearly had. He'd just barely been able to maintain enough of himself to still insist on not doing anything right in that moment, needing to cool down, clean off, and get back to the office in time for their important meeting with important clients who'd only had today available on their calendar.

She had no idea what that meeting was about, or who the clients were. She didn't give a damn about any of that stuff. Hell, Inuyasha barely gave a damn about it, and it was _his_ job. But she did respect that his career was important, and she had already sworn to him that she would never become one of those selfish, unreasonable girlfriends who got upset when their boyfriends had to work late. He in turn had promised that he would never, _ever_ step out on her, using 'working late' as a lame excuse.

Thanks to her miko training, Kagome knew that inu-youkai were on par with humans when it came to monogamy. Unlike ookami, who mated for life, an inu-youkai was perfectly capable of having multiple, casual partners, although they were also perfectly capable of being loyal to a single significant other. When it came to Inuyasha's faithfulness to her during their relationship, the odds were neither increased nor decreased that he would cheat on her based on him being half inu-youkai. But she also believed that he was a good, honorable man, and she trusted him. She could see it in his eyes. His inu half and human half were in complete agreement; she was no casual fling.

Not that she supposed it could have been possible for one half of him to feel more drawn to her than the other. It wasn't like he had multiple personalities, after all. Being hanyou did not truly create a conflict of interests within him, although it did help to shape his personality and make him who he was as a whole. While it was true that Inuyasha's human half could have meant that his inu instincts weren't as strong as those of a full-blooded inu-youkai, she'd since seen for herself that that simply wasn't the case, although he did seem to have stronger human type emotions as well, and feel additional things that perhaps a full-blooded inu-youkai wouldn't feel. Still, those human emotions in no way hindered the strength of his inu instincts. They sometimes allowed him to consciously, forcibly tamp down his instincts against his will, for what he foolishly perceived to be the greater good from a human's point of view, but Kagome had told him early on to knock that shit off. If something rubbed his inu half the wrong way she damn well wanted to know about it.

That was how she'd known to stop pushing his buttons when she'd gotten him to the point of his eyes bleeding red, stating in no uncertain terms that for their first time, _he_ was in charge. Another act of defiance and domination on her part after his warning and he would've taken her right there on the sofa whether either of them had wanted him to or not. While a part of her had been tempted, finding the idea of an out of control Inuyasha incredibly sexy, and she probably _would_ tease her hanyou a bit tonight for the fun of it, knowing they'd both enjoy it, Kagome had known not to push things too far during his lunch break when he'd already expressed his desire to not do anything at that moment. She loved him more than enough to respect his wishes in that regard.

Inuyasha had told her that he wanted to take his time, and make sure _she'd_ had more pleasure than she could take before he'd finally take his own. Unlike her, he wasn't a virgin, and he could patiently wait his turn, he'd assured her. The heated look in his eyes as he'd promised her he would _definitely_ be coming back by her apartment tonight had Kagome fanning her face again in that moment as she thought back on it. It was all she could do to focus on making herself a quick sandwich to satisfy her empty stomach while she waited for the rest of her emptiness to be filled by her boyfriend.

And she didn't even mean that in a perverted way.

Well, okay, so the pun had been impossible to ignore, but aside from her physical attraction to him, Kagome actually did feel an emptiness in her soul whenever they were apart. She'd felt incomplete for as long as she could remember, but she'd always used to think it was just lingering self-pity regarding her leg. Now she knew that that wasn't true, because she felt like a whole and complete person whenever Inuyasha was around, prosthetic limb be damned. It had taken her a little while to realize it, but it was her _soul_ he was completing, as if until he'd come into her life she had been missing the second half of herself, and she knew he felt the same way. She could see that in his eyes, too. Life without him in it was completely unfathomable, and she couldn't even really understand why they still lived so far away from each other.

True, he could make the run to her place pretty quickly, all things considered, and she didn't mind long drives considering she drove a taxi for a living, so they certainly hadn't let the miles between them be an issue when it came to spending time with one another, but even so, their nights apart were unbearably lonely. Mind made up, she knew what the solution to her problem was. She was going to ask him to move in with her.

Or offer to move in with him.

His apartment _was_ the larger apartment between the two of them, and being an hour away from her family's shrine would be a small price to pay if it meant she could snuggle in her boyfriend's arms every night.

Mind made up, she decided to try and distract herself for the time being, heading over to the couch with her sandwich. Plopping down onto the sofa, she picked up the remote and clicked on the TV.

Tonight.

She would be seeing her boyfriend tonight.

She would get to spend the night with her soul, and body, wrapped intimately around his own.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Inuyasha had never been so grateful that his half-brother was senior partner in their father's company. All throughout their 'important meeting' he just sat back and let Sesshoumaru do most of the talking, as he and their would-be clients tried to hash out a business agreement that would benefit all parties involved. It was a whole lot of blah blah blah as far as Inuyasha was concerned, but if it helped him earn a bigger paycheck, then so be it.

Once upon a time, he'd actually used to believe that the measure of a man's success in life was directly related to the size of his bank account. Of course, he'd also known that society deemed most men truly successful if they had a loving wife and kids to come home to after their day at the office, but having figured long ago that _that_ was a pipe dream that'd never come true, he had concentrated, mostly for his mother's sake, on his career. He'd wanted to make her proud of him, which, of course, she was, in abundance.

Of course, for her, it had been less about the money and more about making amends with his father and half-brother, about Inuyasha taking his rightful place in society's eyes as Toga Taisho's second son. The man could have probably owned a sushi restaurant and Izayoi would have still been proud of her son for joining the family business. But even so, now, looking back on it, as boring as his job was Inuyasha supposed he was grateful for it, for what it was. He was grateful he never had to worry about money, and that he would always be able to help his mother out financially if and when she ever needed it. Not that she was truly hurting, in her own right. As soon as she had told her secret boyfriend Toga she was pregnant the daiyoukai had put together a trust fund for her and their child, so that she wouldn't have to worry about working as a single mother. He hadn't been able to be there for her as he should have been, already having a wife and child across town, but he'd made sure to at least support her financially so she could quit her job and concentrate on raising their son.

Some women might have resented that, if Izayoi had perhaps had career dreams of her own that were ruined by the unexpected pregnancy, but in truth she'd had no such dreams and all she'd ever wanted was to be a mother. Even when she'd known that she and Toga had to be careful, having known he was already married and not wanting a pregnancy to ruin his life, she had not truly been able to regret getting pregnant with Inuyasha when it'd happened. She had loved Toga dearly, still loved him in fact, and she had been honored to bear his son.

Thinking back on it, Inuyasha wasn't even really sure why his parents weren't still together, unless his father was just too wrapped up in his public image to want to marry his mistress after the nasty, public divorce he and Sesshoumaru's mother had had. He'd always used to think of the man who'd sired him as a sleazeball who couldn't keep it in his pants. Honorable men were supposed to be loyal to their wives, after all. But in recent years he'd learned that Sesshoumaru's mom was, no pun intended, a real bitch, and perhaps their father had only been staying with her for Sesshoumaru's sake by the time he'd met Izayoi. Knowing now how much he loved Kagome, Inuyasha thought back on his ex-girlfriends and tried to imagine what would have happened if he'd accidentally knocked one of them up. If he'd been with a woman he didn't love for the sake of their child and had then still somehow met Kagome and fallen for the miko as deeply as he had, would he have stepped out on the wife in order to be with her? Probably. The heart wanted what it wanted, after all.

Fortunately, he had no such worries. While hanyou were not sterile he and his previous two girlfriends had always used condoms, and not because either of them had been prejudiced against the idea of having quarter-youkai children, since youkai genetics didn't work that way, although they _could_ have ended up with hanyou children. But prejudice on the women's parts hadn't been the issue. It simply hadn't been the right time to think about children during either of his previous two relationships, the first one starting his last year of high school and lasting into the first year of college, his second relationship spanning the latter years of college. Fortunately, both women had wholeheartedly agreed with his desire to use protection; even the gold digger hadn't tried to trap him with a kid, and for that, at least, he was grateful.

Thinking about kids in that moment had the hanyou zoning out again while his brother continued to prattle on about projections, numbers and fiscal years. He thought about Kagome, and how he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she'd make an excellent mother one day. He also thought about his ears, how much he knew she loved them, and how he'd bet she'd want a little mini him with his ears and coloring. He found himself regretting that there was no way to guarantee such a thing prenatally. Having a child with a hanyou was a crap-shoot when it came to which half of the genes you'd get. There was no such thing as a quarter-youkai or quarter-human.

It was something the human scientists had finally given up trying to explain, accepting that it had to do with youkai magic and leaving it at that. A hanyou was like a carrier of both and yet only _either_ youkai genes or human ones, in a very weird way. To put it plainly, a human and a hanyou would have either a human or hanyou child, while a youkai and a hanyou would have either a youkai or hanyou child, and it didn't matter if the hanyou was the father or mother. As the father, their multi-coded semen would only deliver one set of genomes, human or youkai, not a mix of both. That meant, with a human mother, a man who was half youkai could either father a child that would test completely human, despite having a half youkai parent, or their child could also be a true half and half hanyou, despite having one fully human parent and one half human parent. The same went for a female hanyou's eggs. It wasn't like the sperm or eggs themselves were either/or, and you could run a test to see if they were human or youkai coded, separating out the one you wanted; they were true mixes but then only actually acted on one half of themselves when it came time to reproduce. That meant that nothing could be done in a laboratory setting, using in vitro fertilization techniques to ensure conception of the desired species. The only way to cherry pick your child's race, if one parent was hanyou, was to test the fetus and abort if it wasn't what you wanted.

He shuddered at the thought. He had nothing against the idea of abortion on the surface, if for any multitude of reasons the woman couldn't keep or didn't want the child, _any_ child, but the idea of aborting simply because the child was the _wrong species…_ Kouga had told him his mother should have aborted _him,_ and simply for being hanyou. He could never, _ever_ want to give up a child simply because it, too, was hanyou, _or_ human, if hanyou were actually the desired outcome. It wouldn't be the child's fault, being whatever it was, and it shouldn't be punished for its cosmic luck of the draw.

Besides, he was sure that Kagome would love their human children just as much as hanyou ones.

 _Getting a little ahead of yourself, don'tcha think?_ he mentally scolded himself then, nodding when appropriate to appear as if he were still paying attention to whatever his brother was saying. He and Kagome had only been going out for a month and a half, after all, and they didn't even live together yet. It was definitely too early to be thinking about children.

But he still thought she'd make a fabulous mother.

Finally, when the blessed time came for their meeting to adjourn, everything having thankfully gone smoothly, Inuyasha headed out casually with the others, saying a few appropriately cheesy business related jokes along with their new clients all the while on the inside, he couldn't wait to tear out of there and leap across the city towards his love.

Regretfully, he couldn't head straight to Kagome's. Well, he _could_ , but he had no overnight supplies with him, and while he seriously doubted he needed to worry about something like pajamas, which he was _not_ planning on wearing that night, he could concede that she would probably appreciate it if he at least had his toothbrush. Plus, since it'd make much more sense to just head straight from her place to work in the morning, he knew it would be appropriate to have a change of clothes. Maybe he could get away with the same dark gray suit, but he should at least exchange his light blue turtleneck for a different color.

Once he was _finally_ out of there, watching for a moment as their new clients headed to their expensive cars, he exhaled slowly, letting his stress melt away, before leaping in a single bound up onto the shorter, neighboring building. Once up there, he whipped out his new cellphone and quickly called Kagome, letting her know the meeting was over.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Just gonna run home first to grab a few things then I'll head over, so an hour tops."

" _Sounds great. See you then,"_ was the miko's reply. She was trying to act casual, but he'd been able to hear the excitement in her voice. He was excited, too.

Putting his phone away he did something in that moment that he usually didn't do before his rooftop runs. He took his shoes and socks off, shoving the latter in his pocket while gripping his loafers tightly as he took off over the buildings. While the business shoes had good rubber souls on them and fit his feet properly, and he could run in them just fine, he still felt as if he could kick it up a notch and run just a _little_ bit faster without them.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Setting her phone back down after Inuyasha's call, Kagome took a few deep breaths to try and calm the multitude of butterflies fluttering anxiously in her stomach. She'd already showered, already cleaned the kitchen and then prepped for a homemade dinner, and anything else she could think of to keep herself occupied throughout the afternoon. The only thing in which she'd managed to restrain herself was finishing off the last of the chocolates. The few that were left she wanted to save for when he returned.

She and Inuyasha had 'shared' a few more of them during the remainder of his lunch break, sharing quite a few more touches, too, although they'd been more like cool down exercises for his libido at that point, Kagome having made sure not to push any more of his buttons. The only thing they hadn't shared during his lunch break was _lunch_ , but he'd assured her he wasn't hungry. Well, he _was_ , but not for food. What he wanted to _eat_ would have to wait until later.

She'd blushed prettily at his words, making him chuckle, but she'd also gotten him back, telling him she would be hungry too and wanted to get her _fill_ , which had turned his chuckle into a groan and announcement that their game was over for the time being or else he'd wind up missing his three o'clock meeting. He had then borrowed her shower, making sure every last trace of male musk was removed from his body before regretfully heading back to work. He'd even washed his underwear in the sink, grateful for the fact that she had a clothes dryer so he hadn't needed to go back to work commando. There would've been no point in showering if only to put 'perfumed' drawers back on, after all.

Knowing it was serious, because she had not wanted to embarrass her boyfriend in front of new clients, Kagome had put all teasing aside and behaved herself during their quick run back to his office, since he'd needed to bring her back with him in order to pick up her car. She'd even wiped off and changed her own clothes real quick prior to them heading out so as not to risk transferring any hint of her own arousal onto him. There was no fooling around when it came to youkai noses.

With that last thought coming to mind, Kagome smirked, momentarily contemplating masturbating before he got there. Just a little tease, not even to completion. It'd be delightfully wicked if the first thing he smelled upon walking through her front door was her desire for him, which he'd be able to smell even easier than during his lunch break since she'd changed into a skirt after her shower. On the other hand, it wasn't like she needed the boost; she was bound to get aroused not long after he showed up, and she honestly wasn't sure if she'd have enough restraint to not finish what she started. Not that she could ever satisfy herself to the point of not wanting him any longer, but she'd honestly rather refrain and deny herself so that her desire would be just that much more powerful when he was finally in her arms. Only about another hour or so to go. To avoid staring at the clock the whole time she decided to just watch TV again.

That was how, around an hour later, she was suddenly snapped out of her distracted haze by a light knocking on her door. She _had_ been vaguely wondering which one of the competitors on the talent show was going to make it through to the next round, but she immediately no longer gave a fuck and practically bounced up off the couch while clicking off the TV with the remote before heading as swiftly as she could over to the door.

Inuyasha's genuine smile warmed her heart as she greeted him, taking his garment and tote bags from him before backing up enough for him to enter and have a seat to remove his shoes. Deciding to get more comfortable, he'd taken a moment while in his own apartment to change out of his business suit and into a simple red t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, the black and white sneakers he untied in that moment having in no way hindered his top running speed. He'd worn them without socks, too, so he was now barefoot as he sat his shoes aside before standing back to up approach Kagome.

He practically radiated happiness as he closed the distance between them and kissed her, not hungrily, but lovingly, like he had come home from work to his devoted wife. While Kagome knew he knew what all their plans entailed for that night, he did not appear overly eager to get to the 'good stuff' as some would call it. He was simply glad to be back in her presence, reaffirming Kagome's belief that his feelings for her ran just as deeply as hers for him.

"I'll go put your stuff in the bedroom," the miko stated then, pulling Inuyasha from his own wandering thoughts.

It had indeed felt like coming home as he'd greeted Kagome. Reflecting on her ensemble as he followed her down the hallway, Kagome holding his garment bag by the hanger in her right hand, his tote in her left, he was pleased to see that she was wearing a flowy cream skirt that hit a little above the knee topped by a short-sleeve crimson sweater with a wide neck. She was showing off not only a decent amount of cleavage, but also the hickey he'd given her earlier that day, and he smirked at the memory as he followed after her, watching her ass sway in her skirt. Her prosthetic leg and even some of her scars were also on full display thanks to the garment, and he'd never felt more proud of her. Or more attracted. She only wore skirts when they were going to be staying in, alone. If at any point in the date they were going to go out into public then she'd don her business slacks, instead. He could understand why, although as far as he was concerned her artificial limb was no less a part of her than her fully human right leg, and it was certainly nothing that she should feel ashamed of or want to hide.

At least not from him.

That she _didn't_ try to hide it from him really meant a lot to him.

He would never try to force her to do anything she didn't feel comfortable doing, and that included wearing skirts in public, if she'd rather avoid the possibility of some ignorant fool giving her disapproving looks, but that she felt comfortable enough to not hide that part of herself in his presence meant the world to him. Yes, one could argue that logically, during the heat of the moment, he would be privy to seeing every part of her, anyway, but that was different. Things were often permitted when driven by passion that might not come so freely otherwise. Right now, they weren't having sex. Right now, she was just his girlfriend, hanging up his garment bag in her closet.

"Kami, I love you so fucking much," he said suddenly, and she sat his tote bag down on the foot of her bed before turning to meet his eyes.

Seeing the intensity of his gaze, she blushed a little, but offered him a warm smile all the same.

"I love you, too."

They might've only said it to each other for the first time just a few short hours ago, but that first confession had certainly not been the _only_ time they'd said it until now. The phrase had left both of their lips multiple times throughout the remainder of his lunch break visit. She didn't think she would ever get tired of saying it, or hearing him say it to her.

"So," she began then, before any awkward silence could dare try to encroach upon their perfect moment. "I hope you're hungry."

"Oh, I'm hungry, all right," he said, waggling his eyebrows.

Ah, _there_ was his perverted sense of humor. She giggled. She loved his sense of humor, too. If he'd _really_ only had sex on the brain it would've shown from the moment he walked in the door, and they both knew it.

As if to prove her right, his stomach growled loudly in that moment, earning another giggle from the miko and a blush from the hanyou that time.

"What?" he defended sheepishly. "I said I was hungry, didn't I? What'd you _think_ I meant?"

She didn't answer him with words, but the sparkle in her eyes and smirk of her lips said it all, and chuckling, Inuyasha followed his teasing girlfriend out into the living room.

"Have a seat on the couch," she said. "I'll be right back."

"This seems vaguely familiar," he quipped as he nonetheless complied with her request. "Should I be putting on a blindfold this time?"

She snapped her fingers at that, as if he'd just reminded her of something important.

"I _knew_ I forgot to buy something."

They both laughed, and Inuyasha kept smiling as he watched Kagome head into the kitchen. "Dinner won't take long!" she called from the other room.

That surprised him. He'd figured she was just grabbing the rest of the chocolates. On the other hand, he'd already had nothing but chocolates and Kagome for lunch. He smirked at the memory, until his stomach growled again. He _was_ hungry.

"Do you need any help?" he called back then. "I don't expect you to wait on me hand and foot."

He cringed the minute the words were out of his mouth. He hadn't meant anything by the poorly chosen expression but that was the sort of faux pas his first ex-girlfriend would've ripped him a new one for. Or worse, she'd have started crying while quietly, sadly accusing him of being insensitive. Kagome, on the other hand, merely answered his question.

"Nah, I'm good," she replied. "To keep myself entertained I already did all the prep work earlier," she said as she got the pot of freshly made soup stock out of the fridge and put it back on the burner to reheat.

Mentally sighing in relief from his place back in the living room, Inuyasha asked next, "What are we having?"

Smirking even though she knew he couldn't see it, she reached into her junk food cabinet and pulled out two packs of instant ramen noodles.

"To make up for lunch, I'm making homemade, instant ramen."

She looked up to see a lightly chuckling Inuyasha standing in the doorway.

"Homemade, instant ramen?" he asked for clarification, approaching where she stood in front of the stove to take a whiff of the tantalizing aroma that was the homemade soup portion of the dish.

"Threw this together while waiting for tonight," she explained, gesturing to the metal pot. She then held up the ramen packs. "But I did _not_ feel like making fresh noodles."

Smiling, he leaned forward and kissed her again, before taking the packs from her hands.

"Why bother when this stuff works just as well?" he asked, more in a way of stating his approval. "But I bet it'll taste a hell of a lot better now that you've had your hand in it."

Insisting on helping, since he wanted her to know he considered her his equal, Inuyasha waited until Kagome instructed him that it was time to include the noodles into the reheated soup before putting them in himself, forgoing the chicken flavored seasoning packets since they were not needed, the soup already possessing the delicious combination of real chicken broth along with carrots, kale, chives, mushrooms, garlic and ginger. He was in charge of stirring, and then pulling it off the heat once the noodles were done, Kagome scooped it up into their bowls and then added golden panko crumbs for a nice crunchy topping.

Heading back into the living room, which doubled as the dining room, they had a seat at the small western style dining table, the high table with chairs easier for Kagome with her prosthetic leg.

"Thank you, Kagome," Inuyasha stated sincerely as he picked up his chopsticks. "This both looks and smells divine." Before she could open her mouth to thank him for his thanks, he added playfully, "And so do you."

Chuckling, she said, "Food first, flirting afterwards." That said, she picked up her own chopsticks and dug in.

Diner was a peaceful affair. Making light conversation as they slurped their noodles, Kagome asked Inuyasha the cliché question of how his day had been. At first he made her both giggle and blush as he reminded her of just how enjoyable at least _one_ part of his day had been, but then he got a little more serious, not that he thought she actually gave a shit about the drawn out details of what all his three o'clock meeting had entailed. He did tell her, though, that the meeting had been successful, his father's company gaining new clients, which she congratulated him for, knowing Sesshoumaru had done most of the talking but also knowing that the meeting's success was beneficial for the entire company.

Besides, just because Sesshoumaru had been the closer didn't mean Inuyasha hadn't pulled his own weight, having compiled together just about all of the figures and numbers Sesshoumaru had then presented. Inuyasha was good at figures, as boring as it was, he just didn't want to deal with giving the presentations if he could avoid it. Kagome couldn't really say she blamed him.

She was good with speaking one on one, or even with a small number of people, but she didn't really do well in front of big crowds, she told him then. Another reason why she loved her job so much. It didn't directly have to do with her leg, since she'd always been shy in large groups, even as a child. In school whenever she'd had to get up in front of the class to read a report it had always been the absolute worst moment of her day. Inuyasha could relate to that.

Of course, she admitted then, it had definitely gotten worse after her accident, standing up there in her school skirt, one and a half legs and a pair of crutches. She'd hated how everyone had stared, how the popular bitches had snickered and pointed. It hadn't gotten any better after her leg had fully healed and she'd gotten her first prosthesis, either. The _popular_ girls had continued to call her all sorts of names. What was worse, it hadn't taken long for everyone to learn that she and Hojo were through, and then a few of the popular _guys_ had jokingly tried to offer her pity dates.

Inuyasha growled a little as she told him that part, but she waved off his concern. She'd been a big girl, even back then, and had had too many other, more important things to worry about, like relearning how to walk, to really spend too much time worrying about her love life. She'd been the one to break it off with Hojo, after all. Yes, it had hurt, and perhaps she'd just been burying the pain at the time, but she'd managed to not fall apart all the same. She'd known the other guys were just jerking her around to be, well, jerks. She had been pretty sure there were also bets and dares involved, but she'd always just told them to get lost, not wanting to deal with it.

At Inuyasha's insistence, since he told her how much it meant to him that she was opening up about more of her past with him, she then went on to tell him how after high school, when she'd landed her first job, she'd learned the hard way that judgmental, stuck up bitches weren't limited to school. She'd used to love wearing skirts, still did in fact, as well he knew, though back then she'd not really cared for pants at all. Dealing with her prosthesis was much easier in a skirt, and she'd been trying to be brave, not wanting to hide away in shame, so she hadn't bothered trying to fight her job's dress code when her boss had told her that skirts were required for women.

Despite being a bit chauvinistic, he had actually been fairly nice to her, not saying anything to make her feel uncomfortable about her leg. The job itself had been easy, too, if not also a bit boring, but just like in high school, it hadn't taken long before she'd found herself the outsider, a clique of mean girls apparently making it their life goal to insult her on a near daily basis. Finally having enough, she'd abruptly decided one day that she didn't deserve to be treated that way. She'd also decided that a job where she could wear pants was preferable to dealing with thatkind of prejudice for the rest of her career. She wasn't hiding away in shame, or so she'd told herself. She just wanted to be treated like a normal person. Was that too much to ask?

"Absolutely not," Inuyasha told her, a mix of sympathy, understanding and pride in his gaze.

"I still like wearing skirts at home, which is why I still have some," she acknowledged then.

"I'm glad," he told her. "Personally, I think you look fine, although maybe I'm just biased because I love you so much."

Instead of blushing, she only gazed at him with the warmest look of love he'd ever seen. Inwardly, he chuckled. He might've had a knack for stupidly saying the wrong thing at times, but it seemed, at least with Kagome, that he had a talent for saying the right things, too.

Continuing smoothly with their conversation, then, Inuyasha told Kagome how it had been his looking forward to tonight, not just the prospect of sex but more than that, just to be in her presence again, that had gotten him through his boring ass meeting. He even admitted that he'd been _so_ anxious to get back to her that he'd even gone so far as to run home barefoot rather than in his loafers so that he'd get home approximately five minutes sooner.

She giggled at that visual.

"Now I'm glad you don't have a car," she said, amused. "I would've hated to think of you weaving in and out of traffic as you ran all the red lights."

He laughed as well, then used his chopsticks between bites to wave off her hypothetical.

"Nah, even if I had a car I'd've ran home and back here, 'cause I can run much faster."

"That's true," she acknowledged. "I guess you don't really need a car, after all."

Inuyasha got a far off look on his face for a brief moment, as he thought about one reason why he'd need a car, imagining Kagome strapping a baby seat into the back of it, but he quickly shook his head to snap himself out of the random daydream, and at Kagome's inquisitive look he merely waved his chopsticks again in a silent gesture to not worry about it.

Deciding to let it go, it was then Kagome's turn to answer Inuyasha when he asked her how _her_ day had been, and she told him quite honestly that it had been the longest, most boring afternoon of her entire life as she anxiously counted the minutes until his return. She easily confessed to how lonely she too felt whenever they were apart, and how right it felt now that they were together again. It was then his turn to stare at her with a look of love shining in his golden yellow depths, unable to deny how her words touched his heart, as he told her that, in truth, he never wanted to be away from her.

"Maybe it's time we do something about that, then," Kagome stated bravely, as she stood and collected their empty dishes. Inuyasha immediately rose to follow her as she headed back into the kitchen.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked her tenderly, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist as she stood at the sink trying to wash their bowls. He rested his chin atop her right shoulder and gave the hickey on the side of her neck a brief lick.

Kagome shuddered at the contact, in a good way, and gave up on washing their dishes for now as she left them in the sink before turning in Inuyasha's arms and wrapping her own arms up and around his neck.

"We've talked about it before," she said quietly, "though only to say it was something we should discuss when we're ready." She met and held his gaze. "I'm ready if you are."

He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

"I'm ready," he answered her, opening his eyes to again meet her own. "I really can't imagine my life without you in it. Well, I _can_ , but it sucks."

She giggled a little, then shifting all of her weight onto her right foot, she also used her grip around his neck for leverage as she leaned up onto her tiptoes to chastely peck his lips. He leaned over to follow her down as she immediately stood flat on her foot again, kissing her a second time, this one a little more than chaste.

She eagerly returned his kiss, not even stopping when his grip around her waist suddenly tightened before she found herself being lifted up and placed on the edge of the counter. She only responded by bringing her hands up from where they were locked behind his neck to instead begin massaging each of his ears, as she opened her legs just enough for him to stand in between them, her skirt in no way keeping the noticeable spike in her arousal from reaching his nose. He groaned.

"I guess the only real question, then, is whose apartment do we keep?" he stated more than asked as he pulled back from the kiss just enough to rest his forehead against her own, taking deep breaths through his mouth as he struggled to keep from losing control. She smelled so fucking good.

In an effort to distract himself from the temptress in his arms, Inuyasha took a moment to honestly think about the present topic of discussion. His apartment, while definitely modest when you took his true income into consideration, was still larger than Kagome's, but he honestly didn't care about something like that. In truth, he could easily afford an even bigger, even nicer place, but he just wasn't into living large. He'd rather have a nice emergency savings and money to burn at restaurants every night than extra square footage and technology he didn't really need. He had no qualms with downsizing, especially if it meant being with the woman he loved.

True, he liked living near his mother and cousin, and would gladly welcome Kagome into his apartment, if she would be okay with moving, but if she was particularly attached to her place, or didn't want to move so far away from her own family, then he would move in with her in a heartbeat. Hell, they could even meet in the middle and get a new apartment together in Tama District for all he cared. Living in a predominantly human part of the city would be a small price to pay to have Kagome in his life day and night.

As if sensing his distracted state, said miko decided to get her boyfriend's focus back into the here and now in that moment.

"We can discuss the pros and cons and figure out which decision makes more sense later," she said, as her hands dropped from his ears, causing him to lift his head up in order to meet her eyes again.

The smoldering look she sent him had him immediately backing away and lowering her back down to the ground, eager to find out what she was plotting.

Grabbing Inuyasha's left hand in her right, Kagome led him back out of the kitchen, quickly snatching the box of chocolates off the counter in her left hand along the way. "Right now..." she chimed back in, her voice dripping with seduction, "...there are more important things to worry about, like _dessert_."

Rumbling his approval, Inuyasha suddenly scooped Kagome up into his arms, his ears flattening automatically at the loud shriek of her squealed laughter, although the sound of her happiness was music to said ears. He then proceeded to carry her, chocolates and all, into her bedroom.

Depositing her on the bed, he picked up his overnight tote bag and put it on top of her dresser before then making his way back over to her, stalking her slowly, like a predator. The bedside lamp was on, but not the overhead light, casting the room in a rich glow that allowed Kagome enough light to see while still keeping an air of mystery about them. Scooting herself back until she was in the middle of the bed, head at the pillows, she placed the box of chocolates on the nightstand beside her before meeting and holding Inuyasha's intense gaze as he slowly crawled towards her from the foot of the bed. Settling himself on top of her, Kagome watched, stunned, as his eyes flashed to red and back. His control was hanging on by a proverbial thread.

"Kagome..." he said, more like a moan, before suddenly, he was kissing her.

She wasted no time responding, wrapping her arms around him to grip the fabric of his shirt in her right hand, his hair in her left. Spreading and bending her legs slightly, she also wrapped her right leg up and around his left one, uncaring as her skirt rode up as a result, giving him a nice view of lacy panties should he choose to look. He didn't need to look when he could _feel,_ and it didn't take long at all for _her_ to feel his eagerness as he pressed their bodies intimately together, as he slowly began rocking against her. The hand in his hair made its way to his ear, then, and he moaned again, before suddenly pulling up and away, but only enough to rip his t-shirt off. Tossing it to the floor he was right back where he wanted to be, lying sprawled across his affectionate girlfriend, her hands now both massaging the muscles of his back, her nails biting in and sending electric tingles shooting straight to his groin.

As he continued to rock against her, Kagome's hands slid lower until they were cupping his denim covered ass. Chuckling deep in his chest, Inuyasha continued to kiss her senseless while rocking his hips against her. Kagome was right there with him, tightening her grip on his ass while rocking her hips as she moaned, getting off on the friction. If they weren't careful, though, _he'd_ wind up 'getting off' before he even got his _pants_ off. That wasn't the plan. That wasn't the plan at all.

"Kagome..." he moaned again, her name about the only word his brain could form at the moment. Panting a little as he caught his breath between kisses, he lifted his upper body just enough to meet her eyes. He smirked as he took note of just how swollen and well-kissed her lips appeared.

The heat in her gaze almost matched the fire he felt burning in his blood. Her chest was heaving with her own heavy breathing, which drew his eyes downward to her cleavage. Cute as her breasts looked in that sweater, it had to go.

Pushing up away from her, then, Kagome could read the desire in her boyfriend's gaze as Inuyasha maneuvered his legs to be on either side of hers, bringing her own legs back together and straightening them to lie in between his so that he could more easily kneel above her, his knees on the mattress on either side of her legs as he straddled her. Shirtless as he was, silvery white hair a mess, eyes burning, he had all the appearance and appeal of a medieval sex god, and she felt very much the sacrifice in that moment, eagerly awaiting her fate.

Knowing exactly what he wanted, Kagome didn't hesitate to sit up just enough to cross her arms over herself and pull off her sweater, revealing her cream colored, lacy bra. The look in his eyes bespoke of his satisfaction, and she could see it in him that he was just about to lower himself over her once again, but then smirking, she decided to do him one better and bending her arms behind her back, she unhooked her bra. His eyes widened momentarily but then the look on his face became even more primal, and it was then that she lied back down, raising her arms up straight at her sides in a silent show of wanting him to remove the unfastened support garment from her body.

Keeping his legs on either side of her own for the moment, knees and shins on the mattress, Inuyasha leaned forward again, straddling her thighs instead of settling himself snugly between them, where he truly wanted to be. But all in good time. First, as Kagome's silent request made oh-so obvious, it was time for that bra to go. Smirking, he braced himself with a hand on either side of her head and lowered his mouth to her chest, gripping the lacy fabric between the cups with his teeth. Kagome wasn't really surprised by the maneuver, and momentarily had to keep from giggling as Inuyasha growled playfully like a dog with a chew toy as he pulled her bra away with his mouth. Sitting back up, most of his weight on his knees with his butt resting only lightly on her legs, he pulled the lacy fabric all of the way up and off the miko's extended arms until it was free, and then with a quick shake of his head he flung it across the room.

Gazing down at her in that moment, Inuyasha took a minute to just soak it all in. This was his first time seeing Kagome topless, after all. To her credit, while she blushed mildly under the scrutiny of his gaze, Kagome did not truly feel embarrassed by her boyfriend's intense appraisal, nor did she feel insecure. The way her demonic lover's eyes seemed glued to the spot as he unconsciously licked his lips told Kagome that he very much liked what he saw. Even though his appreciation was clear, she couldn't help teasing him, though.

"Like what you see?" she asked with obvious humor in her tone.

As if he'd subconsciously been waiting for her to break the silence that had developed between them, he didn't hesitate to reply as his eyes finally managed to remember where her own eyes were located.

"Most definitely," he answered, the look on his face as his gaze locked with her own revealing both just how much he loved her and how badly he wanted to _be_ with her.

That time, she did giggle, before reaching over to the nightstand beside her and plucking up two of the remaining chocolates.

"You're allowed to do more than look, you know," she said suggestively, as she delicately balanced the homemade candies on her chest. Then as if she were honestly changing the subject, she said, "Don't forget you still have to eat your dessert."

Eyes flashing back to red again for a brief second, Inuyasha smirked almost evilly before leaning down and very carefully, without actually touching her, plucked the chocolate off her right breast with his teeth, his lips pealed back to reveal his razor sharp fangs as he did so. The look in her own eyes became so intense as she watched him that the hanyou almost wouldn't have been surprised if her eyes flashed red as well. Savoring the treat for a brief moment with eyes closed, because honestly, the whipped chocolate mousse filling was divine, he then made a show of smacking his lips as he opened his eyes back up to meet hers with his look of lust tempered only a little with an added touch of humor.

"Not bad," he said, as if he were a food critic. "But it seemed to be missing that certain special something."

He then lowered his mouth over her left breast, as careful of his teeth as he could possibly be, as he maneuvered the chocolate into his mouth with his tongue and then proceeded to suckle both it and her flesh at the same time. His nose had told him that this particular chocolate was solid, without a filling, so he'd known he could pull off this bit of naughty as he slowly rolled his tongue, and subsequently the slowly melting chocolate, every pass of his tongue teasing him with the sensual combination of flavors that were chocolate and Kagome. Said miko certainly had no objections to being covered in a sticky layer of sugar, Kagome's response being to arch her back while her left hand gripped his right shoulder and her right hand reached over to start fondling his left ear again. Inuyasha moaned at her touch, and found himself _really_ wishing he was between her legs again, instead of the other way around, but he was bound and determined to take his time and make her aware of just _how_ much she truly meant to him.

Kagome was getting a pretty good idea, the teasing swirls of his tongue sending tingles shooting through her. She wanted him, and she knew he _knew_ she wanted him, but if he wanted to take his time and build her up slowly she really had no intention of complaining.

When the chocolate was finally gone, Inuyasha took a moment to make sure he'd cleaned up every last drop of it from her delicate skin, and then he was sitting up again, looking down at her smugly. An expression that didn't waver as Kagome immediately reached for the fly of his jeans with both hands, undoing the button and lowering the zipper with all the enthusiasm of a child opening presents on Christmas morning. Opening his jeans revealed his silky red boxers, perfect for both Christmas and Valentine's Day. She knew red was his favorite color and Kagome had to admit, it suited him well.

"I'm all for taking our time, but if we're ever going to make any _real_ progress, then at some point, these jeans gotta go," the miko stated playfully. "Might as well be now."

"I couldn't agree more," he replied as he moved off of her, rolling onto his back beside her on her left so that he could pull his pants down and away, leaving his boxers on for the time being.

Kagome unzipped and removed her skirt at the same time, not really revealing the panties that had already been on display with the way her skirt had been flipped up a little, although now, her hip and belly were exposed for the first time.

"Oh, damn..." Inuyasha said in surprise as he sat up cross-legged, gazing at the faint but still somewhat nasty slash marks on her left hip and lower belly.

She had told him about them, but he'd never actually seen them until now. They were nothing compared to the scars on her thigh and knee, of course, but they were noticeable, and worse than he'd been expecting. Not worse as in, he honestly thought she looked bad in any way. Worse as in just _how_ badly she'd been attacked by that fucking shark.

"I was really lucky," Kagome acknowledged as she sat up as well, her left leg remaining straight while she folded her right one in at the knee. Her left fingertips danced across the faint but wide and jagged scar on her belly. "He barely grazed me here, in the grand scheme of things. Started to bite down but I somehow flailed out of the way and only got sliced on his teeth. All I remember was swimming up to my board just after a wipe out, and then suddenly there was a shark right there and I frantically tried to get away from him. Don't have a clue how I managed it."

She gestured to the nastier scar on her thigh and knee.

"Then he bit harder here, and then..."

She gestured rather plainly to her prosthesis.

"It was after he actually had something in his mouth he could take a second to swallow that the people in the speed boat that saved me were able to yank me away from him. If they hadn't already been there, hadn't already seen him and come to my rescue, or if he'd actually gotten a good hold on my middle in that first attempt, I'd have died for sure. So many ifs. I know I'm lucky to be alive, and while this used to bother me..." She again motioned towards her leg. "I realized long ago that being alive with one and a half legs is a _hell_ of a lot better than dying."

He stared down at where her prosthetic leg was attached for a moment, and then looking back up into her eyes, he held her gaze and raised his right hand to cup her left cheek.

"I'm so proud of you, Kagome, and I'm so very, _very_ grateful that you are still alive, because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't now feel as alive as I do, either. And I don't just mean how you really did save my life that night, but even if I had survived it somehow, I'd've still just gone back to existing. I only existed without you, but now, finally, I _live_."

She had to blink a few times to keep her tears at bay at his words, although the huge smile on her face told him they were the good kind of tears. She raised her left hand to hold his right against her cheek for a moment, before then removing his hand from her face but only so that she could bring it to her mouth and kiss his palm. She then released him while reaching over with her right hand to pat her artificial limb.

"I guess I may as well take this bad boy off, too. It's gotta come off at some point."

"I thought so," he acknowledged with a casual nod. "I'm sure you'd be much more comfortable without it."

Nodding as well, Kagome proceeded to unstrap her prosthesis. She did not feel self-conscious over the notion of him seeing her stump since he'd already seen it before, more than once. Tossing the artificial limb and her prosthetic socks down off the side of the bed, Kagome took a moment to rub at her leg, the skin mildly irritated. It was no more severe than the marks she'd get from her bra after a long day, or the marks very tight socks could leave on a person's legs.

"Itchy?" he asked as she rubbed.

"A little."

Hesitating only a moment, Inuyasha moved his hand over her leg but then paused, hovering without touching her. He met her eyes.

"May I?"

Meeting his eyes, Kagome smiled gently. Inuyasha wasn't like that one guy she'd briefly dated who'd turned out to have a weird amputation fetish. As soon as she'd confessed to that guy about her leg his eyes had lit up with a perverted glint as he'd asked her then and there if he could see her stump. The sad thing was that she'd actually momentarily tried to argue with herself that a guy who was _into it_ was better than a guy who was turned off by it, and she was sure there was really nothing wrong with someone with an amputation being with a person who was into it if they weren't bothered by their partner's obsession, finding it a turn on as well, so from a fear of forever being alone she'd continued to date the guy for another couple of weeks. But when he'd continued harping on her to see, and touch, her leg, like a high school boy begging his girlfriend to let him touch her boobs, Kagome just hadn't felt comfortable in their relationship and so she'd broken it off. She'd wanted someone who was into _her_ , and was simply not bothered by her leg, not somebody who was into her _leg_ and was simply not bothered by the fact that a woman came along with it.

She had that man, now. Inuyasha loved her, inside and out, and her leg was merely a part of her. He wanted to show her that he loved every inch of her and would not _avoid_ her stump as if it were a turn-off he was overlooking for her sake. He did not love her _because_ of her amputation, but neither did he love her _in spite_ of it, he simply loved _her_. Just as she loved him, not because he was a hanyou or despite that fact. She loved Inuyasha and his species was irrelevant, although she had to admit, his ears _were_ rather cute.

She loved touching his ears, yes in part because she found them cute, but honestly, she wasn't obsessed. She touched them more than she needed to because of what she now knew it meant to _him,_ that shewas not bothered by their appearance. They were a part of him, and she loved them for that reason, wanting him to know that she accepted every part of him, just as he did her.

"Yes, you may."

Tentatively, gently, Inuyasha rested his right hand down over where Kagome's hand had been rubbing, where her leg stopped just a little below the knee. It didn't take long for his unsure, light touches to become much more confident, especially when Kagome leaned back on her outstretched arms, hands behind her, an expression of pure enjoyment on her face. Of course, it was impossible for the hanyou to forget the fact that she was currently wearing nothing but cream lace panties, and his arousal had not subsided in the slightest, but in that precise moment in time he was content to see the look of satisfaction on her face as he gave her the amputee equivalent to a foot rub. He could only imagine that the end of her leg would become sore at the end of a long day just as one's feet became, and what woman didn't love it when her boyfriend gave her foot rubs, right?

In fact Kagome was _very_ appreciative, not just for the fact that he was massaging her leg, but because he was so _good_ at it! But she was not as content as he was to seemingly ignore what they had previously been doing, and so it was with a wicked smirk that Kagome shifted her weight onto her right hand and snaked her left over into his lap.

He gasped, his touch faltering, and he turned his head to meet her gaze just in time to catch the knowing, teasing smirk Kagome flashed his way as she began stroking him through his boxers. Regaining his composure after a moment, he flashed a smug fang at his girlfriend as he repositioned himself, lying back and rolling himself onto his right to grant her better access while shifting to his left hand as he resumed massaging the end of her leg. It didn't take long at all before his hand was steadily climbing higher, over her knee and up her thigh, his eyes never leaving hers all the while.

As he neared her panties, Kagome's only response was to bend her right leg back at the knee to grant him better access, as well. He Immediately began rubbing her over her underwear, and Kagome moaned appreciatively as she rolled over slightly as well, leaning a little onto her left side so that she could release her boyfriend with her left hand and instead reach over to grip him more firmly with her right, her new position in no way hindering his own exploration.

Inuyasha eyed her hungrily as he watched her face, watched the various expressions flash by as he worked, mindful of his claws. She was unable to mask the pleasure he was bringing her, and his nose flared as he greedily inhaled her magnificent aroma. Kagome saw it as his expressions also changed, since she was studying his face just as intently as he was studying hers, but she did not blush as he growled his approval. Instead, she decided to up the ante and abruptly yank down the elastic waist on his boxers, touching bare flesh for the first time. His eyes closed momentarily, but his mind was quickly back in the game as he moved his fingers underneath her panties.

It was Kagome's turn to close her eyes, then, and then her hand was falling away from him, which he was secretly grateful for because otherwise, he would've had to stop her in another minute anyway, if she'd have kept on going the way she had been. Instead, Kagome rolled back onto her back in that moment and unabashedly pulled her panties off, tossing them away. He immediately followed her example and discarded his boxers as well before getting right back to what he'd been doing, propping himself up a little on his right arm so that he could lean over her a little as he worked.

"More!" she commanded suddenly, catching him off guard although he quickly obeyed her command with only a moment's hesitation.

"I just don't want to hurt you," he murmured.

"Unless you accidentally get me with a claw you won't hurt me. I may not have ever been with a man before, but let's just say I have a nice substitute in my bottom drawer."

He pulled away from her a little at that, catching her humor filled gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Should I be jealous?" His tone of voice revealed he wasn't serious.

She answered his question by reaching over with her left hand, grasping him, as if taking note of his length. He groaned.

"Nope," she answered playfully then.

"Good," he said, his voice husky, more like a growl, as he shifted his body a few inches more to lay partially on top of her and claim her mouth with his own again in yet another round of heated kisses.

At the same time, he retracted his fingers down below, rubbing slowly. She moaned into the kiss at his touch, her hips rocking of their own accord. Grateful in that moment for being fairly ambidextrous, at least when it came to things other than writing, Inuyasha continued to pleasure his girlfriend with his left hand as he swallowed her moans of pleasure, his right hand coming up to fist in her hair while both of Kagome's hands were suddenly gripping the blanket at her sides.

It didn't take long at all for him to throw her over the edge. He was a _very_ fast learner and her body had told him what she wanted loud and clear. The miko gasped loudly before crying out Inuyasha's name as she climaxed, and the hanyou responded by crashing his mouth down over hers again to swallow the rest of her cries as he continued to torture her, her body shaking. He stayed the course until, finally having enough, she suddenly reached down with her right hand to grasp his and yank it away.

"Good?" he asked smugly, meeting her eyes with a knowing smirk, but instead of becoming embarrassed, or irked at his ego, she neither blushed nor had the desire to knock the overconfident grin off his face.

"Very," she answered honestly, before sitting up while pushing him down to lie flat on his back at the same time. "My turn..." she cooed, as she reached for one of the few remaining chocolates and placed it over _his_ nipple.

"Now, now, I'm in charge for our first time, remember?" he asked teasingly, even as he remained motionless to allow his girlfriend to suck on his beading flesh and the chocolate at the same time. How he'd managed to keep his voice steady he had no clue. Somehow, he'd muscled up the ability to sound playful when in truth he'd wanted to growl out a demand for her to submit to him.

It wasn't as if she was fooled.

"I expect you'll flip me over as soon as you've had enough," she acknowledged, her tone of voice unconcerned, as she finished the chocolate before continuing to swirl her tongue around his erect right nipple. She then leaned over him and gently bit his left nipple, earning a quiet hiss from the hanyou.

He already wanted to flip her over! But, on the other hand, he also wanted to let her have some fun, so it was with an iron will that he tamped down his instincts, doing what she'd told him not to do in the past, but it was necessary in order to let her have even a minute of exploration. For her sake, it was worth it, although he knew he wouldn't last long.

So did she.

Sitting up on her knees, a position that used to feel weird with the missing lower half of her left leg although she'd since gotten used to it, Kagome reached for her boyfriend's manhood with a confidence that belied her inexperience. She stared intently at his face as she pleasured him, watching as he bit his lip, drawing blood, the faintest hint of red also bleeding into the golden yellow of his eyes as he locked his gaze with hers, refusing to blink.

"I've told you not to cage yourself," she scolded playfully as she scooted just a hint lower down his body. "Let's see if we can set you free."

That said, she lowered her mouth down fully over him, but if she'd been concerned about not really knowing what to do and whether or not she'd do a good job she needn't have worried. The instant her lips closed around him he roared, the sound so rich and deep that it rattled the windows, and then her head was against the pillow as she blinked up at the fully transformed hanyou-turned-inu-youkai towering over her, pinning her shoulders to the mattress.

"Bitch," he growled, his toothy grin worthy of an evil villain.

"Your bitch," she replied, enough years of miko training under her belt to know _exactly_ how to defuse the situation, and without the need to zap him one. He didn't need it. He would never hurt her, as evidenced by his obvious restraint.

"If you get a taste, then so do I," he stated then, his eyes turning back to yellow of their own accord as his fangs shrank. He'd willed his transformation away because he knew those fangs would've been a hindrance.

Kagome didn't say anything further as Inuyasha shimmied his way down her body. She was helpless underneath his strong hands holding her immobile, and she was loving every minute of it. The sensations rushing through her were nothing like she had ever felt before, even with over a decade of self-exploration. It wasn't long at all before she felt another climax rushing up on her.

"Oh! Oh! Inu...Inuya...Yasha...I...I'm...Oh!"

Hearing her moan his name like that, Inuyasha growled. His playful growl, like a dog with a toy. Demonstrating just how quick of a learner he really was, Inuyasha remembered well how her body had behaved the first time and continued to ride out her turbulence until she was _just_ about to beg him to stop. Sensing it when she'd truly had enough he pulled back before she could regain her voice, and then lowering her legs he crawled up her body, settling himself between them once more. The look in his eyes as her vision came back into focus told her that playtime was over.

She couldn't have agreed more.

"Please..." she begged quietly. "Make me yours."

"With pleasure," he answered, although then much to the miko's surprise, Inuyasha shifted, moving as if to get off of her. She immediately threw her right leg up and around him to keep him in place.

"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked, her tone half playful, half confused.

He chuckled.

"To get a condom out of my bag."

Her eyes widened slightly in realization before her lids lowered to half-mast, her gaze turning warm, loving, and a touch sensual.

"That's all right," she told him smoothly. "You and I both know hanyou cannot be carriers for human STDs. Besides, even if it were possible, I trust you."

It was his turn for his eyes to widen as he realized what Kagome was saying. Even though his concern had nothing to do with diseases, her sentiment was truly appreciated.

"I'm not worried about getting you sick, I'm worried about getting you pregnant," he stated bluntly.

What might've been a mood kill for other women only had Kagome's look of love growing even deeper. She was well used to her boyfriend's rather direct way of stating most things, and she wouldn't have him any other way. Besides, she could be blunt and direct, too.

"I'm on the pill," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You're on the...?" He shook his head, grinning a little at the thought that she'd thought so far ahead. Still... "But, even if you started taking them right after we met, don't they take like two months to become fully effective? That's cutting it kind of close, isn't it?"

"I've been on them for a lot longer than that," she explained then. "Not to be crude, but let's just say I needed them to help _regulate_ things. My schedule used to be somewhat unpredictable, and when you're struggling with a pair of crutches and missing foot it's not always easy to get to the bathroom in a hurry."

"That makes sense," he conceded, his thoughtful expression turning wicked as a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat split his face, his fangs glistening in the lamp light.

While spermicidal forms of birth control were not guaranteed to work on those of demonic blood, the pill was different, since it affected the woman's own fertility cycle. His sperm could stay viable for as long as it wanted if her body would never become ready to accept it.

Seeing his wickedly gleeful expression, Kagome couldn't help but giggle as she asked, "Is it really _that_ much better without a condom?" He looked like a kid who'd just been told he could have two scoops of ice cream instead of one, plus whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

"I don't know," he told her then, admitting, "I've never been with a woman without one before. In this way, you're _my_ first."

Her eyes opened wide again at that revelation, and then without either of them saying anything further Inuyasha reached down between them with his right hand and aligned himself before slowly, carefully, inching his way forward. Kagome's right leg flopped down from where it'd been wrapped around his lower back, her hands suddenly gripping his shoulders, but not in an effort to push him away. She felt...complete.

As for the hanyou, it took every ounce of his willpower to maintain his slow pace. The sensations washing through him were like nothing he had ever experienced before, and he didn't just mean physically. Oh sure, it felt a lot better than with a condom on, _that_ was for sure, but it wasn't like his gold digging college girlfriend had never given him blowjobs. She had been pretty good at them, too. In fact, if he were to be brutally honest with himself, perhaps he'd even put up with her for longer than he otherwise would have because she had been so good in bed. But with Kagome, it wasn't just about sex. He _loved_ her, fully and truly, in a way he'd never felt before, with anyone. That was why it was so hard to control his youkai blood around her. On a primal, instinctual level, she was _his_ in a way he'd never felt about his other girlfriends, but it wasn't truly as if he wanted to possess her, either, or at least, he didn't mean to consider her his possession. Yes, she _was_ his, but he was also _hers_ , mind, body, and soul.

As they joined fully together, he couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through him, and it had nothing to do with the physical sensations he was experiencing.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said suddenly, meeting her eyes, earning a snicker from the girl below him as his look of love morphed into a goofy smile.

"I know it's tradition that the woman give her man a treat on this day, and I know you're thinking of saying how I have given you _quite_ the treat..." Kagome added when she saw the humor in his gaze. He looked sheepish then. He'd been about to make the joke but she'd beaten him to it. "But I also feel like you've given me such a wonderful gift, as well," she finished then.

"The first of many," he replied, before slowly building increasing his tempo.

He held her gaze with his as he moved, checking for even the subtlest hint of pain, despite her reassurances. After a moment though he could tell that she was truly not in any discomfort and he continued on with more confidence. Lying stretched out on top of her, the missionary position had never before been so special to him as he kissed her, Kagome eagerly kissing him back as she fisted the back of his head in both hands. Allowing himself to just _feel_ for a moment, feel the way her body seemed made for his, Inuyasha had to admit, all lovey-dovey notions of oneness aside, it felt a _hell_ of a lot better going bareback.

In fact, it wasn't long at all before he felt the telltale tingling that told him his release was imminent, and he had to come to an abrupt halt in order to keep from losing it.

"Damn it, not yet..." he muttered under his breath, just thinking out loud.

He hadn't meant for her to hear him, but she had.

"It's all right," she told him, earning his immediate attention as he met and held her gaze. "You've already made me feel so wonderful. It's your turn now."

"After two fucking minutes?" he asked sarcastically, scoffing at himself. "That's a disgrace."

Kagome merely shrugged, at least the best she could in her current position.

"Personally, I think it's a compliment."

He snorted.

"You would."

She laughed, which had him sucking in a quick breath at the unexpected sensation. His reaction didn't go unnoticed, although she chose not to comment on it in that moment.

"Besides, you're used to condoms," she excused on his behalf, then. "I'm sure this feels much better..." He snorted again, in a way that revealed that _that_ was an understatement. "...And plus, I'm sure, well, at least I'd like to _think_ that some pretty strong emotions are also at work here."

Her tone was teasing, the look in her eyes assuring him that she had complete faith in his love for her, but even so, he had no qualms with reiterating himself once again.

"I love you so _fucking_ much," he told her, accentuating the word 'fucking' with another quick thrust, his crooked smirk causing her to laugh again. He groaned.

"Damn it, bitch, don't _do_ that," he ground out, biting his lip as he pinched his eyes shut.

It was her turn to smirk, even though he couldn't see it.

"Do what?" she asked, feigning innocence, before she proceeded to deliberately contract her inner muscles once again. "This?"

He shuddered, and then the little witch reached down and smacked his bottom with her right palm. He lost it. Not that he climaxed right in that moment, but the last tattered thread of his control finally snapped. He didn't transform, but he suddenly started moving as fast as he could, his arms wrapping under and around her so that he could hold her to him in a tight embrace, burying his face in the junction where her left shoulder met her neck. Kagome felt his mouth on her and for a brief moment thought he was going to work on giving her a matching hickey on that side but he didn't start sucking. He just held his open mouth against her flesh, the tips of his fangs gently grazing her skin. Then he bit down a little, but not even as hard as a human man might bite down in the throes of passion, taking his much sharper fangs into consideration. He bit hard enough to leave a temporary mark but not hard enough to break the skin. He hadn't lost himself so much that he would accidentally injure her; he would _never_ hurt Kagome, physically or emotionally.

In fact, the teasing bite sent delicious tingles though Kagome's own body, and she made a mental note to encourage him to bite her more often. You'd think that maybe for someone with her history, the idea of being bitten would _not_ be a turn on, but considering just whose fangs those were, he could put them anywhere he pleased. She would tell him so, too, as soon as he wasn't quite so preoccupied.

Lost in his own world as he was, it only took the hanyou a few seconds for it to rush up on him like a freight train, and he cried out in a combination of human shout and canine whimper, the sound perhaps muffled to the neighbors by her flesh in his mouth although being so near her ear, Kagome heard him clear as day. It touched her heart to know that _he_ knew that he could be himself with her, that he hadn't tried to stifle his canine nature.

While she knew they had no worry of an accidental pregnancy, she had a brief fantasy flash through her mind in that moment of a day, perhaps not _too_ far off in the future, when that might change, and when it wouldn't be an accident. She knew it was much too early in their relationship to entertain such thoughts regarding their _immediate_ future, but perhaps in a year or two... In the meantime, thoughts they _could,_ and _needed_ to entertain, regarding their immediate future, revolved around which apartment to keep. Logically, it should probably be his, but in that moment she didn't honestly care. So long as she and Inuyasha were together, nothing else mattered. It was going to be hard enough living without him for just however many few days it would take to finalize their new living arrangements. After that, she planned on living with him for the rest of her life.

The feeling was definitely mutual.

Looking into her eyes, Inuyasha knew, in that moment, that he never wanted to spend even a single night away from this woman. This wonderful, tender, loving woman who had just selflessly given to him her everything, and who had accepted his everything in return. While they had already agreed the time had come to discuss moving in together, both of them also agreeing that pretty much the only thing that actually needed to be discussed was weighing the pros and cons of which apartment they should keep, Inuyasha knew in that moment that in the meantime, if it was all right with Kagome – and he couldn't imagine it wouldn't be – then he would just start spending the night, every night, at her place. Even when she would be out past midnight driving her taxi he would feel better to be in a bed that smelled so strongly of her, knowing that after she was done working she would be coming home to him.

He would never try to get her to quit her job, appreciating that she was an independent woman. He didn't mind feeling needed, would not object to taking care of her financially if she chose to quit on her own, but they said the greatest relationship was when your love for each other surpassed your need for each other, and that she _wanted_ him meant the world to him. Capturing her lips with his own in that moment, he poured his own want of her into the kiss. Truth be told he didn't need her, either, but he would be unhappy without her and so he _wanted_ her. He wanted her in his life, and in his bed. In that moment, he also wanted to hear her cry out his name again.

Pushing up from the kiss enough to look into her eyes again, his hands no longer wrapped underneath her as he held himself above her with his palms on the bed on either side of her, Kagome had just enough time to focus on his look of love before his expression morphed into a playful smirk.

"What?" she asked, amused.

Honestly, Kagome was surprised, but in a good way, that Inuyasha hadn't immediately disentangle himself from her after reaching completion. If he was content to remain lying atop her then she was content to have him right where he was. It wasn't until he moved his hips a couple of times to get her attention that she realized he was still aroused, her eyes opening wide in belated understanding, which earned a deep chuckle from the hanyou.

 _Demonic stamina, I should have known_...

As if reading her thoughts, the hanyou teased, "That's right, Kagome, I'm not finished with you yet."

He _had_ warned her that he'd planned on taking his time with her. He hadn't been kidding. The newly ignited look of hunger in Kagome's eyes as she gazed up at him in that moment told the hanyou that she was ready and willing to take whatever he could give her.

Pushing himself up higher, then, Inuyasha didn't say anything further as he lifted her rump a little while rising up onto his knees. Kagome gasped, but the look in his eyes told her he was only getting started as he then grabbed her right leg and flung it up and over his left shoulder before then also carefully lifting her left leg to his chest before wrapping his arms around both of her thighs.

Kagome was held partway upside down as he started moving again, and unable to do much of anything but endure it, her hands went from gripping the sheets to clutching her own chest. Inuyasha growled in satisfaction at the sight before deciding to take things up a notch.

"Yeah, squeeze 'em," he said, his tone eager. "Squeeze 'em hard."

She complied without protest. The fire in his eyes was mesmerizing, the raw power in his flexing muscles enticing, but it wasn't long before she was forced to stop enjoying the view of him towering over her as her eyes closed in sheer bliss of the feelings washing through her, both emotionally and physically.

His body was less sensitive now, able to hold his second climax at bay. He wouldn't allow himself completion until after she'd had her third. The vision Kagome made was making it difficult, but he refused to lose himself. Suddenly, inspiration struck. She'd squeezed her breasts harder at his request, so would she…?

"Now pinch your nipples," he instructed first. Baby steps.

Kagome opened her eyes to smirk up at him at the command, but then proving she wasn't a shy girl she complied with his request.

"Is this what you want to see?" she asked, her voice husky.

"You're a dirty little girl, aren't you?" he chuckled.

"Like you'd have me any other way."

"Oh, I plan on having you _lots_ of different ways, but this position works for now," he retorted, earning another laugh from the miko that had her clamping down around him again, but not in the way he wanted.

"Gods, woman..."

He slowed his pace, just a little bit.

"Touch yourself," he ground out, his breathing ragged.

"I am touching myself," she replied playfully.

"You know what I mean," he said.

Eyes widening just a bit, a light dusting of pink graced her cheeks at the realization of what he really wanted. Whether it was from embarrassment or arousal, though, she couldn't be sure. Perhaps a bit of both. Nevertheless, she complied. If he wanted to feel her lose it she would give him what he wanted.

Inuyasha watched, enthralled, as Kagome gave in to his request without complaint. It was a highly erotic sight, their current position allowing him to watch as he mentally encouraged her. He couldn't last forever!

Fortunately, he didn't have long to wait. Everyone always knew their own bodies the best, so Kagome was able to bring herself to climax fairly quickly. Her eyes were once again closed, and as her release washed over her she bit her lower lip, as if to stifle her cries of passion, but that lasted for only a second or two until he noticed and barked out "Scream my name!"

She complied. It wasn't about subjugation, her doing as he commanded. He just honestly wanted to hear his name from her lips while in the throes of ecstasy, and she knew that.

"Inuyashaaaaaaaaaa!"

Hearing her cry of pleasure, that was all it took to send Inuyasha spiraling out of control right after her. This time, he honored Kagome by crying out her name as well. It sounded like a desperate plea to the miko's ears, as if he were begging her to never leave him. She never would.

As the intensity faded, Inuyasha stayed in that position for a few moments longer as his heart rate slowly returned to normal, and then belatedly realizing his girlfriend would probably appreciate having her lower half _lowered_ , he gently released her legs and backed away, setting her rear back onto the mattress before moving himself back around to lie beside her on her left. Breathing heavily and evenly, he could feel his libido slowly winding down, and glancing at the miko beside him he grinned at the way her chest, glistening in sweat, rose up and down from her own heavy breathing.

Feeling his eyes upon her, Kagome tilted her head to look his way, then smirking knowingly at his own happy smile, she rolled over onto her left and propped her head up on her hand, meeting his eyes. He immediately rolled over onto his right in order to face her, reaching over with his left hand to brush a rogue lock of hair behind her ear.

"What are you grinning at?" he asked her softly, as if he didn't know.

"You," she answered. "Happy?"

He chuckled.

"What do you think?"

"I think...I'm never letting you go."

"Works for me," he told her. "You couldn't get rid of me even if you wanted to."

It was then that he told her what he wanted, asking her if it would be okay for him to unofficially move in with her _now_ , until they got it figured out. He didn't need to bring much of his stuff, just some of his clothes and toiletries. Tearing up, but with _happy_ tears, Kagome gave him her answer by scooting closer and pulling him into a sideways embrace before capturing his lips with her own. The kiss remained slow and tender, not heating back up into another round of love-making. They were each satisfied for the time being to simply bask in each other's presence.

"I love you," Kagome said between kisses. "So much."

"I love me too," he replied teasingly, chuckling when she playfully slapped his chest.

Kagome was about to retort with something clever but interrupted herself when her mouth opened wide in a huge yawn. Inuyasha chuckled again.

Deciding then that it was definitely bedtime, Kagome momentarily thought about getting up to at least wipe herself off a little, although the prospect of strapping her prosthesis back on was unpleasant because of how sated and jelly-legged she felt at the moment. Chuckling, Inuyasha offered to _lick_ her clean, earning a cute blush from the miko, but then getting a little more serious, he confessed that he absolutely adored the way they both smelled at the moment and that he'd much rather cuddle her in all their sweaty, spunky glory. Laughing at her adorably crude boyfriend, Kagome consented since she didn't really want to get out of bed anyway and instead merely rolled over so that Inuyasha could pull her into a spooning embrace.

It was the best night's sleep either of them could remember having in a _very_ long time.

ooo

The following morning, since he _did_ need to get completely cleaned up before going into work, Inuyasha offered to help Kagome get clean in the shower. It was fortunate that, even though her apartment was small, the shower room off the hall toilet was comfortably large enough for two people to be in at the same time.

Waking up together had been like waking up from the world's best dream only to realize with unbridled happiness that it _wasn't_ a dream. After a few good morning kisses he'd scooped her up, delighting in the sound of her squealed laughter, and plopping her down on her bathroom stool he'd then proceeded to wash her up and down, including sending shivers down her spine when his talented talons gently massaged the shampoo into her raven locks. When it was Kagome's turn to 'help' Inuyasha bathe, he remained standing while she expertly propped herself up with her left knee on the stool. He even knelt on the tile floor so she could reach in order to enjoy washing his hair for him. Of course, she paid extra special attention to a certain special part of him, a part that was very _dirty,_ she told him teasingly, and her attentions made their time in the shower run a little longer than it otherwise would have, not that he had any complaints. It turned out, Kagome was a very fast learner, too.

He immediately tried to reciprocate, but she waved it off, telling him she'd owed him one. He narrowed his eyes at her, but playfully, and promised only that he'd pay her back tonight.

That subtle reminder, that yes, he _would_ be coming back to her apartment that night, and _every_ night, unless they decided to change the venue to his place, had Kagome humming a happy tune all throughout breakfast, the miko having insisted that he wasn't leaving until she got some food in his belly. She worked quickly on a traditional breakfast while he finished getting ready for work, and then when it was finally time to see him off, they parted with a kiss and a promise of looking forward to seeing each other again that evening.

Inuyasha got to work in record time, Kagome's apartment being much closer to Taisho Enterprises than his place. While he kept himself occupied with boring spreadsheets and pie charts, Kagome also kept herself busy by deciding to see if she could pick up a fare or two. Hanging out at the queue at the airport that morning, it turned out there wasn't much competition, she assumed probably because most of the cabbies had decided to stay out late the night before, and so she was actually able to nab herself a couple of inbound businessmen who needed lifts from the airport to their hotels.

She ended up missing meeting Inuyasha for lunch, not that they were really dying to see each other again _that_ badly, especially knowing that they would be together again tonight, and so she merely called him at the beginning of his lunch hour to apologize about not being able to be there. Telling her that it was fine, because it was, Inuyasha decided to just grab some quick takeout and eat it back at the office so he could catch up on some paperwork. Kagome _did_ make sure to meet Inuyasha when he got off, though, calling him again to make sure they wouldn't miss each other. He met her outside with curious eyes, wondering what it was she needed to give him, the miko having told him she had something for him, and then his eyes widened in disbelief when she handed him a key to her apartment. Another thing she'd done while she'd been out was swing by a place that made keys to have the duplicate created.

"This way, we won't have to worry day to day if I'm out driving or not when you get off, since you get out of work late sometimes," she explained logically. His reply was to pull her into a tight embrace.

Since she was there with her car, she volunteered and he agreed in that moment to let her go ahead and drive him home so that he could pack up however much stuff he wanted to bring back with him to her place. That way, he wouldn't again be burdened by leaping from building to building with luggage in tow. It really wouldn't have been that big of a deal for him, and Kagome knew that, but in truth they both enjoyed the car ride and had simply used it as an excuse to spend some extra time together.

She also took advantage of the time spent at his place to really look around as he packed. Kagome knew his apartment well by that point, and she knew she could call it home in an instant. While her place was much closer to his job, she knew he hadn't really wanted to move far away from his mother, and in fact that was why he'd never moved closer to Taisho Enterprises in the first place. His mother lived alone, whereas her own mother was well cared for, both her grandfather and younger brother also living at the shrine and Souta having every intention of remaining there and taking over for their grandfather as shrine priest when the time came. Driving a taxi for a living, Kagome had no qualms with hour-long drives and so moving an hour away from her family shrine wouldn't be that big of a deal to her. In some unforeseeable emergency, Souta would be there to take care of their mother until she could arrive. If Inuyasha's mother had an emergency, he could maybe make the run in twenty minutes with his adrenaline pumping, but depending on the emergency twenty minutes could still be too long of a wait.

Not that she really foresaw any kind of a life or death emergency befalling either of their mothers, of course. Thinking a little more realistically, she knew that Inuyasha would really just like to be able to visit with his mother on occasion, not to mention his cousin Miroku, and truth be told Kagome really liked Sango and if the two of them lived closer to one another it'd be much easier to hang out and have a girls' night out from time to time. She didn't have any other friends, and at first the concept had seemed strange because it'd been so foreign to her, but she and Inuyasha had since hung out with Miroku and Sango more than once and she actually really liked the both of them. Even more importantly, they both liked her. They knew about her handicap and didn't care, and each of them had even told her how pleased they were that Inuyasha finally had somebody in his life who clearly made him happy.

If Kagome were to be completely honest with herself, she was even quite fond of the little neighbor boy, Shippou. His father, Shun, hadn't been kidding when he'd said the young kit absolutely adored Inuyasha, and while her hanyou boyfriend might try to deny it, Kagome could plainly see that he adored the young kitsune, too. They'd had dinner with Shun and Shippou in their apartment once, after Shippou had wanted to meet the 'pretty lady' who'd been hanging around with Inuyasha. After that, she could hardly ever come or go from Inuyasha's place without young Shippou popping out into the hall at the smell or sound of her, usually with an enthusiastic child's "Hi Kagome!" leaving his lips.

In fact, as she and Inuyasha headed out in that moment, the hanyou carrying a large suitcase and another garment bag, she wasn't surprised as the door across the hall swung open to reveal the young kitsune in question eyeing the duo up and down.

"Where you going with that luggage?" he asked.

Instead of rolling his eyes at the boy, Inuyasha nodded his head in Kagome's direction and told the truth.

"Her apartment."

Shippou went from curious to heartbroken in less than a second.

"Y-you're m-moving away?"

Inuyasha paused at that, unsure of what to say. For Kagome, the answer was obvious. She bent down to meet the boy closer to his eye level.

"Actually, Shippou, I'm going to be moving in with Inuyasha, here."

Both males' eyes lit up at that.

"Really?!" Shippou asked, suddenly as happy as a kid finding out he was going to Disneyland for his birthday.

"Really?" Inuyasha asked Kagome as well, and while he was doing a better job of keeping his enthusiasm in check, she could see it in his eyes that he was nearly as happy as Shippou.

Standing back up straight and meeting his eyes with a shrug, she gestured down to little Shippou who at that point ran back inside his own apartment saying he had to tell his dad the good news. She chuckled a little at the kitsune's antics then met her boyfriend's gaze again.

"How can I take you away from him?" she asked, her tone playful.

He gave her one of his knowing looks.

"You do realize you're _way_ more important to me, right?"

"Oh, of course," she acknowledged. "But I've been thinking about it, and while I know my place is closer to your work, I also know you aren't really interested in that convenience and would rather stay here."

"I want to stay with _you_ ," he emphasized. "I don't care where we live."

"But if you could choose..." she began leadingly.

It was his turn to shrug.

"Okay, I admit it, I'd prefer my apartment. I _would_ rather stay closer to my family, but how is it fair asking you to move farther away from yours?"

"I don't mind," she told him honestly. "Your place is also larger, and honestly makes more sense for two people."

 _Or three people…_ he thought, though he didn't dare say it out loud. Not yet.

"And while you don't mind being farther away from your work, my work is a non-issue since I'm an independent driver and don't have a base of operations to report to," she continued.

"That's true," he conceded.

As they continued to make their way down to her car, since it was decided that for at least the next few nights he'd still go ahead and stay with her at her place, they continued to talk about the pros and cons of which apartment to keep and continued to reach the conclusion that his was the better option. It wasn't something she could just jump right in to, though, since moving took at least a little bit of time. Inuyasha had only packed up some clothes and toiletries, same as if he were staying a few nights at a hotel, but Kagome would need to pack _much_ more. She'd also need to decide what not to pack, and instead get rid of. They didn't need two separate complete sets of dishes, after all. She didn't see any real point in dawdling, though, and just as eager to have her move in with him as she was becoming over the idea of moving, Inuyasha told her as they made their way back to her apartment that he would gladly help her in any and every way possible to get fully packed up and moved out by the end of the month.

"I guess it won't hurt anything if I'm home packing instead of out making money since I won't _need_ any money for next month's rent and bills if I'm gone by then," she said offhandedly during the drive. "I've at least got enough set aside to cover my cab's rent for a couple of months."

"You know I'm always happy to help you financially, too," Inuyasha hedged. "I ain't tryin' to say you gotta quit your job or anything, I completely support you doing whatever you want, but just sayin'."

She glanced his way and offered him a sincere smile before quickly getting her eyes back on the road.

"It's not like being a taxi driver was my life long dream or anything," she admitted. "I just needed something to get by, something that took me out of the spotlight."

His response to that was to look her way again with an affectionate gaze and shift his right hand over to rest on her left leg, patting her thigh. Kagome responded by taking her left hand off the steering wheel to place it over his hand, which he then turned over so that they could thread their fingers together. She smiled.

If at the end of the day he wound up taking care of her financially, that would honestly be all right with her. The idea of becoming a housewife didn't bother Kagome in the slightest, now that she had a good man who loved her, and although she knew she was still jumping the gun a bit by thinking of anything that had the word _wife_ in it, they _were_ moving in together and so that was definitely a step in the right direction. She just didn't want him getting the wrong impression. She was certainly not looking for a free ride. She was _not_ a gold digger, and she told him so in that moment, that even though she understood that she wouldn't really _need_ to work any longer she was still perfectly happy to, to help contribute to the household income. Even though he was already managing everything on his own, some of his bills were surely bound to go up thanks to a second person moving in with him. His grocery bill would double, at the very least.

He of course insisted that he had more than enough money to support the both of them, but then he also immediately reiterated that he respected her decision to work. He did assure her, though, that hypothetically if she were not completely moved out yet in two weeks and needed the money for another month's rent, it was a gift he would gladly give her, so she didn't have to worry about juggling packing and working at the same time. Her moving in with him, hell, her even just being willing to _be_ with him, was the greatest gift she could ever give him, so paying a month's rent for her while she went through the last of her belongings was a very small and easy price to pay to help make his dreams come true.

She blushed a little at his words, but didn't argue the issue of him paying next month's rent if it came to that. Kagome was pretty sure, though, that two weeks was enough time. She'd start packing right away.

Tomorrow.

Finally arriving at her apartment, they both agreed that for that night they would just relax and enjoy each other's company. Besides, he still owed her one for the shower that morning, he reminded her with a waggle of his eyebrows. It was a very enjoyable night, indeed.

ooo

The next two weeks seemed to go by in a blur. Inuyasha still had to go to work every day, but Kagome spent her days packing, and he came home to her place immediately after work to assist in any way he could. While they were staying at her place she left some of her clothing and other necessary items alone, but packed up other personal things such as extra clothes, jewelry and photographs, and all of the random knickknacks from her 'junk' drawers that she just couldn't live without. Once they had a car load of boxes ready to go they brought it all to Inuyasha's place, taking the time to unpack everything too so that by the time she left her place to move into his all of her things would already be in place. He had quite easily sacrificed some of his dresser and closet space for her. Seeing her stuff mixed in with his made Inuyasha feel warm tinglies inside his heart that he never wanted to let go of.

Kagome also boxed up her dishes and other household items that she wouldn't be bringing with her to his place, the duo instead bringing all of that stuff to her family shrine so that it could be donated out to families in need.

Mrs. Higurashi had, of course, been completely fine with her daughter moving in with Inuyasha when they'd told her. She absolutely adored the hanyou and looked forward to one day calling him her son-in-law, which was a foregone conclusion as far as the elder Higurashi woman was concerned. She'd since been made aware of the more horrific and intimate details surrounding how her daughter and the inu-hanyou had first met, including her daughter's two-night stay at his place while she'd basically nursed him back to health after saving his life, and Mrs. Higurashi definitely believed that the kami had had a hand in bringing those two together, on that very night. How anyone could be so cruel to Inuyasha, just because of his mixed blood, she couldn't understand. Sure, the boy was a little rough around the edges, but she could easily see that he had a kind heart, and most importantly, that he loved her daughter with every fiber of his being. She had absolutely nothing against Kagome being with an inu-hanyou, and if the kami decided to bless them with hanyou children as well then Mrs. Higurashi knew she wouldn't be able to keep her hands off their adorable puppy ears.

Izayoi was also just as thrilled. During a recent dinner at her place she'd pulled Kagome into a tender hug and told her welcome to the family. She too had been told the truth of how her son had met his girlfriend, and she would forever be grateful to the young miko who'd saved his life. She'd also met Kagome's family, and was thrilled that they were all such kind people who had no objections to her son and Kagome living together.

That day in question came before they knew it. They were in fact able to get Kagome fully packed and moved out by the two-week deadline to avoid having to pay another month's rent on her place. She decided to keep her cab for the time being and despite Inuyasha's offer, she made its next payment out of her own savings. She didn't need to worry about saving her money for an emergency, she'd pointed out, since she now had him to take care of her, and that acknowledgment appeased his dominant side although truth be told, even his dominating inu-youkai instincts appreciated that she was a self-reliant woman. It was the same reason he didn't mind her being a miko. He viewed her as strong, and he did not feel emasculated by her strength. She was his equal, and he wouldn't have her any other way.

It was surprisingly easy to fall into a comfortable routine. For the last two weeks Inuyasha had been going to Kagome's apartment after work and it had been like coming home to her already, so now that they were in his place instead not too much was really all that different. Things were much calmer, of course, now that the move was over. Things became more like their first night together at her place, with him merely coming home to be greeted by a loving girlfriend who served him dinner before they retired to their shared bed for some rather enjoyable nighttime activities prior to sleep. It didn't take long for them to run through all of the various positions Inuyasha had been fantasizing about, and one week later, on the night of the new moon, he even made good on his promise that Kagome could be in complete control. She quite enjoyed tying his human self to the bed with the long strips of silk she'd purchased just for that occasion.

While she kept her cab, insisting on making her own money, she no longer drove the late shift. Inuyasha would have been okay with Kagome leaving to drive for a few hours after diner every night, but truth be told, he was glad he wasn't going to bed alone, and _not_ just because of the sex. Sure, he would've worried about her a little bit, in the back of his mind, but mainly he would've just missed her. He loved going to bed with her every night and falling asleep with her in his arms. Kagome also had no desire to be away from him when he was there, out driving her taxi when she knew she had her man waiting for her at home. So even though the best time to drive was late at night after the trains and buses had stopped running, she adjusted her sleep and work cycle to match her boyfriend's and did daytime runs in her cab while he was at work. She didn't make quite as much money as before, but since her only expense was now her cab's monthly payment it was easy enough for her taxi to pay for itself. Without it she wouldn't have a car, nor a way to make regular car payments. She didn't doubt that Inuyasha could afford it and would happily offer to buy her any car she liked, but she _liked_ her taxi and so as long as she could continue to make her own payments on it she planned on keeping it.

Time continued to fly by and before either of them knew it, it was White Day, one whole month since their first night together. To make up for having to work on Valentine's Day Inuyasha took the day off, and the two of them enjoyed sleeping in together that Monday morning. Especially after their rather adventurous night before.

"Mmmm...good morning," Kagome greeted him when she cracked her eyes open to see him lying on his right side, smiling at her.

"Yes, yes it is," was his reply, as he rolled over onto his back and stretched, groaning a little in the process.

"You wear me out, woman," he said after a few joints cracked, earning a giggle from the miko. "Ugh," he added teasingly. "If you need to get up, go ahead, but I gotta stay in bed. I'm not healed yet."

He tilted his head and winked at her as he said that last part, and it didn't take long for her to catch on. After all, it was less than three months ago that they'd awoken together for the very first time in that bed, his bed, on Christmas day, when he'd nearly been too injured to move except he'd somehow muscled up the strength to bring her to bed with him solely for her own comfort, so that she wouldn't wake up in pain from having slept wrong in the chair.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked him then, both seriously and playing along. Just like on that fateful afternoon, her stomach was growling.

He groaned good-naturedly at the prospect of getting out of bed, mainly because he didn't want to get dressed. One major difference between that morning and Christmas day was that they were both naked. Still, he said his line right, quoting himself verbatim.

"Yeah, but it's too much hassle. I'll be fine."

Grinning smugly, because she knew what came next, Kagome said her opening line of "Well, then," before throwing back the blanket just like she had back then, _this_ time revealing her glorious nakedness to his hungry eyes. Suddenly, food could most definitely wait.

"Get back here," he said with the playful, predatory edge she knew well by that point, all thoughts of role play momentarily gone from his mind.

Kagome merely smirked at him again from over her shoulder as she sat on the edge of the bed and continued to put on her prosthesis before then standing up. Still naked, she took an unnecessarily long time to move across the room and grab her yukata house robe out of the closet. It was torture for the hanyou watching her every move, like a strip tease in reverse, as she slowly covered up what he wanted to see.

Then, before he could say anything else, she turned to him knowingly and replied with, "I'm going into your kitchen to fix you a decent meal." Tilting her hips, placing more of her weight on her right leg as she struck a sexy pose, she added with a brazen tone, "You can't expect to recover on bed rest alone."

Inuyasha swallowed, and suddenly, he said his next line, what he'd been hoping he could lead them into until her nudity had momentarily distracted him. He was glad she had continued to play his game.

"Will you marry me?"

Her surprised expression immediately told the hanyou that she hadn't suspected where he'd been going with their little impromptu reenactment. His expression also told her that he hadn't just blurted it out unthinkingly like he had the last time at the mere wonderment of finding a woman willing to take care of and cook for him. Instead, he was dead serious, and as Inuyasha held her gaze, Kagome's shocked expression quickly morphed into one of unbridled happiness.

"Yes!" she damn near screamed as she threw herself at him, doing a swam dive back onto the bed that had him scrambling to catch her to make sure she didn't injure herself in some way.

They collapsed together, both laughing. Kagome took a quick moment to reach down and remove her artificial limb just so it wouldn't be in the way and then she curled up into a ball in Inuyasha's lap as he sat up against the headboard, wrapping his arms around her to hold her in a tender embrace as he rested his chin on the top of her head. He couldn't decide if he was glad for her yukata or not, but it was probably better that her bare bottom wasn't snuggled up against his penis in that moment since it kept more of his blood in his _big_ head as he found the words he wanted to say.

"You already know how much you mean to me, so there ain't really nothin' new I can tell you that'd be some profound heartfelt confession, but even so...thank you. Thank you for being you. Thank you for loving me."

"Thank you for loving _me_ ," Kagome replied.

He held her a moment longer, then after noticeably inhaling the scent of her hair, he released her enough to reach into the drawer of his nightstand. Kagome moved back enough to turn and see what he was up to, looking at him curiously when he pulled out a small gift wrapped box.

"What?" he asked, chuckling at her expression. "You made me chocolates for Valentine's Day. You didn't think I was gonna _not_ buy you something white for White Day, did you?"

The miko looked a bit sheepish at her fiancé's light teasing.

Fiancé.

That had a really nice ring to it. And the fact that that was the only 'ring' involved at the moment didn't even occur to Kagome as she accepted the small gift wrapped box from Inuyasha's hand. It wasn't until she removed the wrapping paper, revealing a white cardboard box with removable lid which she then removed as well, that her eyes widened in belated realization as she spied the black velvet jewelry box.

"Inuyasha…?" she asked slowly as she held the closed velvet box in the palm of her hand, staring at it as if she'd never seen such a thing before in her life. In truth she hadn't, outside of jewelry commercials on TV at least.

He rolled his eyes.

"What're ya hesitatin' for?" he asked, but teasingly, a crooked grin revealing one fang. "You already said yes."

Realizing she was being silly, she cracked open the box to reveal a gorgeous diamond engagement ring set in a white gold band.

"I know it's a western custom," he started rambling nervously as she just stared at the ring, "and I know you're not really a fancy jewelry kinda girl, but well, I love you and I can afford to spoil you so if you don't want any other jewelry that's fine but-"

She interrupted him with a passionate kiss that had every ounce of his nervousness just melting away. Wrapping his arms around her and clutching the fabric of her yukata, he shuddered once before relaxing completely, and feeling him sag against her Kagome lingered for only a moment longer before breaking the kiss and meeting his eyes.

"I love it," she told him, removing the ring from its box before immediately slipping it onto her left ring finger. "Look, it's a perfect fit."

Of course it was. He might not have been _some_ women's idea of the perfect boyfriend, but maybe that had only been because they had been lousy girlfriends. He loved every inch of Kagome, just as she loved _every inch_ of him, and he was a very observant man. With as many times as he'd watched her hands work him over the last month he new precisely how large her fingers were. Just one more thing that went to prove that Kagome was the right girl for him was when she merely laughed when he told her this.

"You're right, I'm not really a fancy jewelry kind of girl," she admitted then, while simultaneously admiring her ring. "But maybe that's just 'cause I've always known better than to live beyond my means."

Translation: until now she'd been broke. Plus it wasn't really the same, she told him, buying _herself_ pretty jewelry. She'd honestly never seen the point. She hadn't cared enough to save up for anything. Whenever she'd treated herself, it'd just been with new clothes.

"But if you _want_ to buy me something from time to time, I won't tell you not to," she added with a sly grin, and he only laughed because Kagome was nothing like his gold digging ex, and they both knew it.

Case in point, when she reached for his manhood in that moment, which had been on full display since she'd tossed the blanket back, he never got the dissatisfied feeling that she was only doing it because of the ring, or worse, that he'd only given her the ring so she would pleasure him.

Of course, while he'd bought his college ex plenty of jewelry over the course of their relationship, he'd never given her an _engagement_ ring, and if he got his way he'd never buy another one ever again, although he saw a nice matching set of wedding bands in their not-too-distant future.

Any further thought along those lines would have to wait until the blood returned to his brain. His miko fiancée had _very_ talented fingers. Breakfast would have to wait as well.

 _The End_

And they lived happily ever after, no? It could go on forever, so I had to end it _somewhere_. I know a lot of you will probably want me to continue this universe, and I do admit I really like the world I've created here, but I have _sooooo_ many other universes I still have to share with you! So a bit of an epilogue to tie up loose ends. We all know at this point that they got married, and of _course_ the kami blessed them with hanyou children when the time came. Kagome finally decided to stop driving her taxi when they both decided they were ready for a baby. She _wanted_ to be a stay-at-home mom, and it wasn't like they _needed_ her extra income. Inuyasha could easily afford to buy them a regular family car, which he did, and Kagome even taught him out to drive.

Over the years Sango and Miroku also had children, as did Sesshoumaru and Rin. Our favorite hanyou and miko never had any other serious problems with racists again. When Kouga, Ginta and Hakkaku were eventually released from prison they never caused any more problems. Life wasn't perfect, because nothing was ever truly perfect, but as far as Inuyasha and Kagome were concerned, it was just about as perfect as life could get.

Okay, _now_ the end.


End file.
